The Love Story of Lulu and Maurice Gibb is one filled with excitement, youthful passion, and the harsh glare of fame. Lulu, once known as the coveted “Single Girl,” saw her solo status disappear the moment the Bee Gees appeared on the same show.
“I think I met Maurice on Top of the Pops,” Lulu reminisced. “It was really exciting. I thought he was absolutely adorable. That band was brilliant — I loved their songs and still do.”
The connection was instant. Lulu confessed, “We were totally electrified by each other. I fancied him like mad.” Maurice, in his own words, was smitten by Lulu’s charm. “She was a little on the chubby side, with a full face, and I thought she was so adorable,” he shared. Yet Lulu initially viewed Maurice as “a bigheaded, arrogant son of a gun.”
One defining night, Maurice offered to drive Lulu home despite being a learner driver. “I had this Mini Cooper S with blacked-out windows… I said I’d pick her up, and I did. I think I asked her, ‘Do you want to just be good friends, or what?’ She replied, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘Okay.’ And that was it.”
Their swift romance culminated in marriage shortly thereafter. Maurice even had to take a day off from shooting a TV series to tie the knot. “When I got to the church, so many people blocked the entrance I couldn’t get in. I had to tell them, ‘You have to let me in — I’m getting married!’” he recalled. Both were barely adults—Maurice was 19, Lulu just 20—in what was dubbed the wedding of the year in England.
“I wore a white suit with a blue shirt,” Maurice remembered. “Lulu had this mink hooded outfit. I think I was imagining myself as Dr. Zhivago… Still, we can all have our fantasies.”
Their honeymoon plans for Acapulco were delayed because Lulu had to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest in Madrid, a move she considered strategic, though the song “Boom Bang-a-Bang” didn’t resonate emotionally with her. She admitted, “It was a typical throwaway Eurovision song. I like to sing songs that touch my soul.” Nevertheless, the exposure boosted her career remarkably.
“Her fame doubled,” Maurice said. “She was suddenly seen in more places, especially across Europe. Eurovision did that for her.”
Post-Eurovision, the newlyweds settled in a modest home in Highgate but faced challenges behind the scenes. Maurice openly acknowledged, “It wasn’t really a homely marriage. Lulu was already very famous when we met… During the early years of our marriage, she was much more established than I was… People even referred to me as ‘Mr. Lulu.’” The relentless spotlight was difficult to bear. Maurice admitted, “I thought that’s just how life was… But in hindsight, it was undoubtedly difficult.” After four years, the pressure showed, and the couple separated.
“She was always working. She never stopped,” Maurice shared. “Her real outlet is the stage, the music, and the business. That’s her true love.”
Still, Maurice recognized Lulu’s unwavering dedication to her career would remain even if she remarried. “That’s just the way Lulu is.” Reflecting on their parting, Maurice mused, “Maybe it was only meant to last a certain amount of time… We just had to go our own ways.” Lulu agreed, soberingly noting, “We were just kids. We were both so young… It wasn’t meant to be a long marriage. Of course, I was disappointed. And so was he.”
