Robert Stigwood of Bee Gees, 'Hair', 'Saturday Night Fever', 'Grease' fame a revolutionary in music from Adelaide
Music mogul Robert Stigwood managed the Bee Gees who featured in Saturday Night Fever, one of the biggest hits in musical film history and one of the major successes of the Robert Stigwood Organisation.
From South Australian origins, Robert Stigwood went on to manage the Bee Gees at the height of their fame and guided musician Eric Clapton's successful solo career while producing film and stage musicals to international success.
Born in Port Pirie and educated at Sacred Heart College, Stigwood began his working life as a copywriter for an Adelaide advertising agency before moving to England in 1955.
With businessman Stephen Komlosy, he founded Robert Stigwood Associates, a small theatrical agency. Among its clients was actor and singer John Leyton whose unexpected success as a recording artist made Stigwood and then associate Joe Meek into Britain's first independent record producers.
Stigwood revolutionised the role of music managers in England by moving into music publishing and promoting concerts. But his biggest contribution to the British music scene was independent record production.
Stigwood worked with a many ground-breaking acts, both and on the pop charts, with Cream and the Bee Gees, and on the Broadway stage, producing counter-culture stage hits Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. He also produced 1996 Hollywood film Evita, starring Madonna. It won an Academy Award for best music and a Golden Globe for best motion picture. Stigwood had earlier backed the ground-breaking film of The Who's rock opera Tommy.
After the highly successful Grease, Robert Stigwood Organisation (RSO) Films made Saturday Night Fever, one of the biggest hits in the history of the business. It introduced disco music and a young John Travolta while propelling the Bee Gees to global stardom.
Adelaide-based music industry professional Stuart McQueen, who considered Stigwood (who died in 2016) one of his heroes, worked with the state government’s Arts SA to establish the Robert Stigwood Fellowship Program to help young Adelaide artists build their careers.
