Bee Gees legend Colin “Smiley” Petersen died on Monday, a tribute band for the group revealed. He was 78 years old.
“He enriched our lives and bound our group with love, care and respect,” the announcement from the Best of Bee Gees read. “Not sure how we can go on without his glowing smile and deep friendship. We love you Col. Rest in Peace.”
A cause of death was not immediately available.
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The Australia native, who happened to attend the same school as the Gibbs brothers (though not at the same time), played a pivotal role in the group’s early success as their original drummer. The first non-Gibbs brother to join the Bee Gees, Petersen‘s work behind the kit during their early years was seen as essential to the Bee Gees’ sound.
“I wasn’t the most technically skilled drummer, but I think that sometimes less is more,” he said in a 2022 interview on The Strange Brew Podcast. “When you’re limited, you have to get creative—just like Chuck Berry, who made magic with just a few chords. For me, it was always about serving the song."
Among the classic hits he contributed to are “Massachusetts,” “To Love Somebody,” and “Words.” His final album with the band was 1970’s Cucumber Castle.
Petersen would then play drums with former Bee Gee Jonathan Kelly in the short-lived band Humpy Bong. Peterson then managed Kelly’s solo act in the 1970s.
After decades away from music, he became a part of Best of the Bee Gees, which required knocking the rust off.
“I would play a track, and even if it got to the second bar, and there was a slight flaw, I would put the CD back to start again, and the challenge was to play the track from start to finish without a mistake for a start before I started to branch out and do some little fills,” he told The Fassifern Guardian in 2022. “After six weeks of this, I put my hand up, and I love it. It’s really great.”
Prior to his music career, Petersen was a child actor, starring in the Australian film Smiley. His role in the movie earned him his lifelong nickname.
Petersen’s death occurred a few days after that of another Bee Gee drummer, Dennis Bryon, who played with the disco group from 1974 to 1980.
Petersen is survived by his ex-wife, Joanne, and their sons, Jaime and Ben.
