"To Love Somebody" is a song written byBarry andRobin Gibb. Produced byRobert Stigwood, it was the second single released by theBee Gees from their international debut album,Bee Gees 1st, in 1967.[4] The single reached No. 17 in the United States and No. 41 in the United Kingdom. The song's B-side was "Close Another Door".[5] The single was reissued in 1980 onRSO Records with "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" as its flipside. The song ranked at number 94 onNME magazine's "100 Best Tracks of the Sixties".[6] The entry was a minor hit in France but reached the top 10 in Canada.
At the request ofRobert Stigwood, the band's manager,Barry andRobin Gibb wrote "To Love Somebody", a soulful ballad in the style ofSam & Dave orThe Rascals, forOtis Redding.[8] Redding came to see Barry at the Plaza inNew York City one night. Robin claimed that "Otis Redding said he loved our material and would Barry write him a song".[9]
The Bee Gees recorded "To Love Somebody" at IBC Studios, London with "Gilbert Green" and "End of My Song" in April 1967 and released it as a single in mid-June. Redding died in a plane crash later that year, before having a chance to record the song.
Robin said, "Everyone told us what a great record they thought it was, Other groups all raved about it but for some reason people in Britain just did not seem to like it." Barry said, "I think the reason it didn't do well here was because it's a soul number, Americans loved it, but it just wasn't right for this country".[10]
Barry Gibb explained in a June 2001 interview withMojo magazine:
It was forRobert (Stigwood). I say that unabashedly. He asked me to write a song for him, personally. It was written in New York and played to Otis but, personally, it was for Robert. He meant a great deal to me. I don't think it was a homosexual affection but a tremendous admiration for this man's abilities and gifts.[11]
"To Love Somebody" was first released in Britain on 30 June 1967.[12]Billboard described the single as a "smooth, easy beat ballad" that "should put them right back up there at the top of the Hot 100."[13]Record World said that it "is well written; the group, the Gee Bees [sic], sing it well."[14]
American singerMichael Bolton covered and released "To Love Somebody" as a single in September 1992, byColumbia Records, from his 1992 albumTimeless: The Classics. His version was produced by him withDavid Foster and reached number 11 on the USBillboard Hot 100, becoming his fourth single to peak at number two in Canada, his highest position in that country. It is also his highest-charting single in France, where it reached number seven.
1990:Jimmy Somerville released a version that reached number 8 in the United Kingdom, becoming his most recent Top 10 entry in the UK.[53] It also charted highly in several other countries, reaching number 5 in Luxembourg,[54] number 7 in Ireland,[55] and attaining high positions in Austria, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.[56]
2013:Michael Bublé covered this song for his eighth studio albumTo Be Loved, the album's fifth single. It reached number 13 in Poland.[57]
Anon. (17 June 1967)."Bee Gees' 'Disaster' Sells 350,000 in States"(PDF).Disc and Music Echo. p. 4.Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved13 October 2025 – via WorldRadioHistory.BEE Gees' new single - their follow-up to "New York Mining Disaster, 1941" - is "To Love Somebody" on June 30.
Anon. (17 June 1967)."Host of Stars Wax Bee Gees Titles, LP, Single"(PDF).New Musical Express. p. 7.Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 December 2024 – via WorldRadioHistory.The group's next single "To Love Somebody," coupled with "Close Another Door," is released here and in the U.S. on June 30.
Anon. (17 June 1967)."New Bee Gee's"(PDF).Record Mirror. p. 4.Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved13 October 2025 – via WorldRadioHistory.ROBIN & BARRY GIBB have penned To Love Somebody", the June 30 release for THE BEE GEES.
^"Spotlight Singles"(PDF).Billboard. 8 July 1967. p. 18. Retrieved25 February 2021.
^"The Year in Music 1993"(PDF).Billboard. Vol. 105, no. 52. 25 December 1993. p. YE-46.Archived(PDF) from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved17 August 2021.
^Drake, Howard (2020)."The Sweet Inspirations Albums (Top Albums)".Music VF, US & UK hits charts. VF Entertainment. Archived from the original on 5 November 2023. Retrieved5 November 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
