This 1971 Ballad Became The Bee Gees' First US No. 1 Hit 55 Years Ago Today

The Bee Gees' road to success was a long one. Having begun performing together as kids in the 1950s, the three British-Australian brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb toiled at their art as songwriters and vocalists in search of international success before finally scoring their first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971 with the tearjerking break-up classic "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart." The delicate ballad topped the chart for four weeks in August that year — an incredible 55 years ago — staying on the Hot 100 for 15 weeks.

The track built on the success of previous self-penned Bee Gees tracks, such as 1967's "New York Mining Disaster 1941." Though that song was a shameless imitation of the Beatles — check out the Fab Four's "You Like Me Too Much" if you don't believe us — "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" saw the Gibb brothers developing their own distinct voice. Surprisingly, the song was written in the aftermath of the group temporarily splitting up, and while it is typically interpreted as being about romantic love, it reflects the healing process the brothers were going through as they were picking up the pieces of their career and preparing to take another shot at superstardom.

Few acts define the 1970s quite like the Bee Gees, whose early balladry was soon mixed with trends of the decade to produce a multitude of hits in various styles. By the later part of the decade, the Gibb brothers had cemented their reputation as disco royalty, with "Night Fever," "Tragedy," "You Should Be Dancing," and "Stayin' Alive" all proving to be chart-topping dance floor fillers in the U.S. and around the world.

The songs are a far cry from "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," which sees the trio at their most poignant and reflective. However, the Bee Gees didn't abandon balladry altogether. Instead, they alternated between disco hits and slower, emotionally charged songs, replicating the vulnerable tone of their 1971 chart-topper in 1977 with the gorgeous "How Deep Is Your Love," and in 1978 with the harmonically rich "Too Much Heaven." The breadth of the Bee Gees' talent as songwriters and performers helped to sustain an incredibly long and varied career, with an estimated 220 million records sold.