Bee Gees' Robin Gibb was close to knighthood, says cousin

(CBS News) Robin Gibb was almost "Sir Robin Gibb." The Bee Gees star was being considered for knighthood in England before he died on May 20 at age 62, according to his cousin Hazel Gibb.

Pictures: Robin Gibb: 1949-2012
Read more: Private funeral for Robin Gibb to be held next month

Hazel told Australia's 4BC radio station that she put in the official nomination papers last October and that Robin's knighthood was "seriously being considered by the government."

"We knew Robin was on borrowed time and I said, 'Look, I know it takes 12 to 18 months, but I don't think we have this time,'" she said. "Time is not a luxury we can afford ... So, we actually think that he probably would have received a knighthood in this year's Honors List."

Fans had also started a Facebook campaign page dubbed Knighthood for Robin Gibb.

Posthumous knighthoods are not allowed under current rules, as the recipient must be able to receive the award. So, now Hazel and the family are turning their efforts to getting Robin's brother Barry Gibb knighted.

"That is now our campaign, to get Barry one," Hazel said of the Bee Gees member.

Robin will be laid to rest at a private funeral in June. Three months after the funeral, there's expected to be a public memorial at the famed St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Elton John, Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney have all been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Robin and Barry Gibb previously received the Commander of the Order of the British Empire honor, the third-highest rank in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.