Liam Hemsworth and Andy Gibb: How two famous families fought to save their youngest from lethal celebrity traps
Following his split from wife Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth abandoned the glitz and glamor of Los Angeles in favor of the beaches of Byron Bay in Australia.
Speaking about his choice to move back, his brother Chris Hemsworth said Liam is doing much better, adding he is healthier and happier and claiming it's most likely being back in Australia that did the trick. Taking a dig at Miley, the actor said, "We got him out of Malibu!"
'Malibu' happens to be the song Miley wrote about rekindling her romance with Liam, and its lyrics are filled with references to "a brand new start...in Malibu."
Life in LA's beach city isn't all too different from life in Byron Bay on the surface — it's all sun and sand, and waves to surf on for days. And yet, for Liam at least, it just wasn't the same as being back home.
As for Miley, she went from singing about being led to the ocean on 'Malibu' to sending her lover back to the ocean as she made for the city lights on 'Slide Away'.
And while that may all sound romantic now, it's not too difficult to imagine just why Liam finally realized the city lights were not his true calling.
In their decade-long on-again-off-again romance, the two have oscillated between being hopelessly in love to taking shots at each other over claims of alcohol and substance abuse on Liam's part as well as infidelity on Miley's.
The breakup was allegedly so painful for Liam, he packed up and moved back home to Byron Bay. Initially, Liam didn't look too happy to have parted ways with Malibu and his lady love, appearing glum and dejected amid family and friends at the beach.
Chris and his wife had reportedly vowed to make sure Liam got better by keeping him close to them while he dealt with his broken heart.
And after spending time getting fit alongside a healthy dose of soul-searching and moving on to a new relationship while in Australia, it appears the younger Hemsworth has finally found peace. The Hemsworth family, it would appear, have "rescued" their youngun from the grasps of the soul-crushing world of the west coast.
This story appears to have a happy ending for now, but it bears an odd resemblance to another young Australian whose family attempted to rescue him from the darkness of LA: Andy Gibb.
Andy Gibb was the younger sibling of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees. Sometimes thought of as the fourth "Bee Gee", he was a solo artiste with plenty of hit singles to his name. Being much younger than his very successful brothers, he found it hard to escape their shadow.
At just 16, he moved to the UK where he formed his own band Melody Fayre just as the Bee Gees were taking off in Australia.
The band moved to Australia on the urging of Andy's brothers, but after extended periods of no work or income due to Andy disappearing for long periods of time with no explanation, the band returned to the UK without him.
By 18 he was married and living in California. And by 19, he had put out his debut album 'Flowing Rivers' which made him an overnight sensation. And he did all of it under the watchful eyes of his brothers, especially Barry, who produced and sang backup on a lot of Andy's music.
Andy's success also often saw him and his brothers go head-to-head on the charts, knocking each other off the top position. Unfortunately, this meant Andy was always going to be "the younger brother of the Bee Gees", a tag he hated till his harrowing end.
By 20, Andy was socializing with the top-most rungs of California's societal ladder and spending his nights under the influence of cocaine. His pregnant wife soon left him and his family was horrified by what he had become.
Once again, at the urging of his brothers who believed Andy would fare better with them, Andy moved to Miami. While there, his career thrived, but unfortunately, so did his addiction as well as a new-found habit for spending lavishly which would eventually bankrupt him.
He soon refused help from his brothers and moved to LA and in 1979, while his career was waning, he met actress Victoria Principal.
Andy's family adored Victoria. They'd hoped she would be the one to finally "fix" him, and for a time, it seemed like she had as Andy's career picked up. But once again, he found the woman he loved would leave him because of his inability to drop his drug habits. This breakup, however, was one Andy would never recover from.
He spent a year depressed, drinking and abusing drugs like never before, and spending up to $1000 a day on cocaine.
He developed a penchant for calling in sick to work and disappearing in the middle of projects due to cocaine binges, usually turning up days later looking disheveled. The habit got him fired from many projects, including roles on Broadway.
Andy soon moved to his home in Malibu with his mother and after some convincing from his family, sought treatment for his drug addiction at the Betty Ford Center in the 80s. Despite a short relapse, by the late 80s, Andy was reportedly sober and healthier than ever.
He slowly began performing again and prepared for a big comeback as well as gearing up to join the Bee Gees, who got him to move back to Miami again, this time keeping a much closer watch on him and controlling his allowance.
But once again, Andy found himself longing to create music on his own. He moved back to the UK, not too far from his brother Robin but very soon was back to his addictions — this time, alcohol — and was missing his appointments.
He was allegedly so drunk he couldn't stand up, he could barely speak, and he'd lost all his teeth after smashing his face into a wall. Once again, his family began urging him to return to them, but when he didn't, his mother flew out to personally care for him.
Sadly, it wouldn't be enough. Andy, who was allegedly still in the throes of depression following his break-up from Victoria in addition to his lifelong feelings of being inferior to his brothers, died on March 10, 1988, only a few days after his thirtieth birthday due to myocarditis — an inflammation of the heart muscle resulting from years of cocaine abuse that fatally weakened his heart.