Introduction:
The Love Story of Lulu and Maurice Gibb
Sadly for those gentlemen hoping to catch the attention of the “Single Girl” Lulu, her solo status wasn’t going to last much longer. Appearing on the same show were the Bee Gees.
“I think I met Maurice on Top of the Pops,” Lulu recalled. “It was really exciting. I thought he was absolutely adorable. That band was brilliant — I loved their songs and still do.”
They instantly connected. “We were totally electrified by each other,” she said. “I fancied him like mad.”
Maurice, in turn, found Lulu incredibly cute. “She was a little on the chubby side, with a full face, and I thought she was so adorable,” he said. “She, on the other hand, thought I was a bigheaded, arrogant son of a gun.”
One night, Maurice offered to drive Lulu home — despite not having a full driver’s license. “I was still a learner, but 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.”
They got married shortly afterward. Maurice even had to take a day off filming a TV series to tie the knot. “When I got to the church, there were so many people outside I couldn’t get in. I had to tell them, ‘You have to let me in — I’m getting married!’” He was only 19 at the time; Lulu had just turned 20. It was considered the wedding of the year in England.
“I wore a white suit with a blue shirt,” Maurice recalled. “Lulu had this mink hooded outfit. I think I was imagining myself as Dr. Zhivago. I’ve always loved that movie — but I certainly wasn’t Omar Sharif, and she wasn’t Julie Christie. Still, we can all have our fantasies.”
Their honeymoon in Acapulco had to be postponed because Lulu had to appear in the Eurovision Song Contest, held that year in Madrid.
“Doing Eurovision seemed like the right career move at the time — and it probably was,” Lulu said. However, she wasn’t particularly fond of the song “Boom Bang-a-Bang.” “It was a typical throwaway Eurovision song. It didn’t move me emotionally. I like to sing songs that touch my soul.”
Although the song wasn’t one she’d choose again, she admits it didn’t do her any harm. “It’s not something I want to sing today, let’s just put it that way,” she laughed.
Winning Eurovision propelled her career forward. “Her fame doubled,” Maurice said. “She was suddenly seen in more places, especially across Europe. Eurovision did that for her.”
Returning from Madrid as newlyweds and with a Eurovision win under their belt, they began married life and found a small place in Highgate. But life wasn’t exactly domestic bliss.
“It wasn’t really a homely marriage,” Maurice admitted. “Lulu was already very famous when we met, and during the early years of our marriage, she was much more established than I was. There were times people even referred to me as ‘Mr. Lulu.’”
That life under the public eye was something Maurice took for granted. “I didn’t realize how hard it was. I thought that’s just how life was — I had made my bed and had to lie in it. But in hindsight, it was undoubtedly difficult.”
After four years in the public spotlight, the strain began to show. Lulu and Maurice eventually separated.
“She was always working. She never stopped,” Maurice said. “Her real outlet is the stage, the music, and the business. That’s her true love.”
He reflected that even if she were to marry again, her career would always come first. “That’s just the way Lulu is.”
Looking back, Maurice believed that the relationship had simply run its course. “Maybe it was only meant to last a certain amount of time — like many relationships. I don’t even think of it as a breakup. We just had to go our own ways.”
Lulu added, “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.”