Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has shown signs of recovery after waking from a coma by responding to his family, his spokesman said.

The 62-year-old singer fell into a coma last week after contracting pneumonia in his battle against colon and liver cancer.

His spokesman Doug Wright last night confirmed that Gibb had been able to nod and communicate with his family members, who have surrounded his bedside for almost his entire stay in a central London hospital.

Gibb's relatives have said they have been singing to him while in hospital, with wife Dwina revealing he had cried when she played him the song Crying by Roy Orbison.

Gibb had surgery on his bowel 18 months ago for an unrelated condition, but a tumour was discovered and he was diagnosed with cancer of the colon and, subsequently, of the liver.

It had been thought his cancer was in remission as early as last month, but the latest deterioration in his health coincides with reports of a secondary tumour.

Gibb's twin brother and bandmate Maurice died from the same bowel condition that initially led doctors to operate on Robin.

His younger brother Andy, who was not part of the Bee Gees but a successful singer in his own right, died in 1988 from heart failure at 30.

Robin's son Robin-John, 29, had been due to premier a collaborative classical work, The Titanic Requiem, with his father earlier this month, but the event went ahead without Gibb due to his poor health.

Robin has enjoyed a musical career spanning six decades, from humble beginnings as part of a sibling trio in 1950s Manchester to his most recent classical venture, a requiem for The Titanic.

In the interim, he sang some of the greatest hits of the 1960s and 1970s, including Massachusetts, I've Gotta Get A Message To You, Lonely Days, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, How Deep Is Your Love and Stayin' Alive.

Gibb last performed on stage in February, supporting injured servicemen and women at the Coming Home charity concert held at the London Palladium.

Gibb's band the Bee Gees will be best remembered for their contribution to the soundtrack of 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, which turned disco music into a worldwide phenomenon and placed the distinctive look of the era's hairstyles and outfits into pop culture legend.