The original drummer for the BeeGees, Colin 'Smiley' Petersen, died Monday at age 78 from complications after a fall.

Petersen was the British-Australian band's first professional drummer and contributed to hits including "Massachusetts," "To Love Somebody," and "Words."

His drum sequences were a major part of the band's early success and contributed to their international stardom, according to the Daily Mail.

Petersen only lasted with the group until 1969, when he had some disagreements with how the group's manager was making decisions for them.

Conflict of interest

At the time, the manager Robert Stigwood, both controlled the band's money and functioned as an employer. This would later be seen as unethical, but at the time not too many people other than Petersen questioned it.

Petersen was eventually fired from the group because of his objections, however.

While he missed out on many of the band's most popular hits, such as "Stayin' Alive," he was able to reconnect with the band and many of its fans when he participated in the Best of the BeeGees tribute tour in 2022.

Petersen didn't start out as a drummer, however.

He actually got his nickname from a movie called "Smiley," in which he acted in the 1950s. He later transitioned from acting to music.

"You have to get creative"

He described his drumming style as being an extension of the music.

"I wasn't the most technically skilled drummer, but I think that sometimes less is more. When you're limited, you have to get creative—just like Chuck Berry, who made magic with just a few chords. For me, it was always about serving the song," he said during a 2022 podcast interview.

He said that the band would show up to record without having written any songs, which allowed him to experiment with different styles and techniques.

It wasn't always easy to make a cohesive sound come together that way, however. "Sometimes we'd spend hours in the studio, and nothing would come together, so we'd pack up and try again another day. But when inspiration hit, we could knock out three backing tracks in one night," he remembered.

A subsequent drummer for the band, Dennis Bryon, died a few days before Petersen.