Glen Campbell

Biography

Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television from 1969 until 1972. A revered session guitarist before breaking through as a solo performer, Campbell released 64 albums in a career that spanned five decades, selling over 45 million records worldwide, including twelve gold albums, four platinum albums, and one double-platinum album.
Born in Billstown, Arkansas, Campbell began his professional career as a studio musician in Los Angeles, spending several years playing with the group of instrumentalists later known as "The Wrecking Crew". After he became a solo artist, 80 of his songs made it onto the Billboard Country Chart, the Billboard Hot 100, or the Adult Contemporary Chart; 29 of those made the top ten, and nine of them reached number one, on at least one of those charts. Among Campbell's hits are "Universal Soldier" (his first hit from 1965), "Gentle on My Mind×Gentle On My MindAugust 1967 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1Gentle on My Mind2:58A2Catch the Wind2:18A3It’s Over2:04A4Bowling Green2:20A5Just Another Man2:12A6You’re My World2:35B1The World I Used to Know2:26B2Without Her2:15B3Mary in the Morning3:03B4Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow2:41B5Cryin’2:51" (1967), "By the Time I Get to Phoenix×By the Time I Get to PhoenixNovember 1967 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1By the Time I Get to Phoenix2:44A2Homeward Bound2:40A3Tomorrow Never Comes2:30A4Cold December (In Your Heart)2:29A5My Baby's Gone2:53A6Back in the Race1:58B1Hey Little One2:32B2Bad Seed2:20B3I'll Be Lucky Someday2:27B4You're Young and You'll Forget2:17B5Love Is a Lonesome River2:05" (1967), "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" (1968), "Wichita Lineman×Wichita LinemanNovember 1968 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1Wichita Lineman3:06A2(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay2:33A3If You Go Away3:42A4Ann1:59A5Words2:48A6Fate of Man2:40B1Dreams of the Everyday Housewife2:35B2The Straight Life3:00B3Reason to Believe2:21B4You Better Sit Down Kids3:15B5That’s Not Home2:46" (1968), "Galveston×Galveston17 March 1969 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1Galveston2:41A2Take My Hand for a While2:43A3If This Is Love2:10A4Today2:31A5Gotta Have Tenderness2:10A6Friends2:34B1Where’s the Playground Susie?2:56B2Time2:45B3Until It's Time for You to Go3:45B4Oh What a Woman!2:41B5Every Time I Itch I Wind Up Scratchin' You1:51" (1969), "Rhinestone Cowboy×Rhinestone CowboyJuly 1975 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Rhinestone Cowboy3:172Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)3:073Pencils for Sale3:414Count on Me3:115I'll Build a Bridge3:396Marie3:357Come Back3:258My Girl3:109I Miss You Tonight3:1110We're Over3:00" (1975), and "Southern Nights×Southern NightsFebruary 1977 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Southern Nights3:07A2This Is Sarah’s Song2:34A3For Cryin’ Out Loud3:03A4God Only Knows3:18A5Sunflower2:50B1Guide Me2:24B2Early Morning Song3:30B3(I’m Getting) Used to the Crying2:47B4Let Go3:30B5How High Did We Go?3:04" (1977).
In 1967, Campbell won four Grammys in the country and pop categories. For "Gentle on My Mind", he received two awards in country and western; "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" did the same in pop. Three of his early hits later won Grammy Hall of Fame Awards (2000, 2004, 2008), while Campbell himself won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He owned trophies for Male Vocalist of the Year from both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM), and took the CMA's top award as 1968 Entertainer of the Year. Campbell played a supporting role in the film True Grit (1969), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer. He also sang the title song, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Campbell announced he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011 and retired in 2013 after recording his final song, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You". He died from the disease on August 8, 2017, at the age of 81.

Early life

Glen Travis Campbell was born on April 22, 1936, in Billstown, a tiny community near Delight in Pike County, Arkansas, to John Wesley Campbell (a sharecropper) and Carrie Dell (née Stone) Campbell. Campbell was of Scottish descent and was the seventh son of 12 children. As a child he almost died from drowning. His family went to the Church of Christ, and Campbell's brother Lindell became a Church of Christ minister. In 2011, Campbell said his mother was Irish; although she was born in the United States, her family had emigrated from County Tipperary. The family lived on a farm, where they barely managed, by growing cotton, corn, watermelons and potatoes. "We had no electricity," he said, and money was scarce. "A dollar in those days looked as big as a saddle blanket." To supplement income, the family picked cotton for other farmers. "I picked cotton for $1.25 a hundred pounds," Campbell said. "If you worked your tail off, you could pick 80 or 90 pounds a day."
Campbell started playing guitar at age 4 after his father gave him a Sears-bought five-dollar guitar as a gift, with his uncle Boo teaching him the basics of how to play. Most of his family was musical, he said. "Back home, everybody plays and sings." By the time he was 6 he was performing on local radio stations.
Campbell continued playing guitar in his youth, with no formal training, and practiced when he was not working in the cotton fields. He developed his talent by listening to radio and records and considered Django Reinhardt among his most admired guitarists, later calling him "the most awesome player I ever heard." He dropped out of school in the 10th grade at 14 to work in Houston alongside his brothers, installing insulation and later working at a gas station.
Not satisfied with that kind of work, Campbell started playing music at fairs and church picnics and singing gospel hymns in the church choir. He was able to find spots performing on local radio stations, and after his parents moved to Houston, he made some appearances at a local nightclub.
In 1954, at age 17, Campbell moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to join his uncle's band, known as Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys. He also appeared there on his uncle's radio show and on K Circle B Time, the local children's program on KOB television. It was there that he met his first wife, whom he married when he was 18 and she was 16.
In 1958, Campbell formed his own band, the Western Wranglers. "We worked hard," he said. "Six, sometimes seven nights a week. I didn't have my eye set on any specific goals or big dreams."

1960–1966: Early career

In 1960, Campbell moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician. That October, he joined the Champs. By January 1961, Campbell had found a daytime job at publishing company, American Music, writing songs and recording demos. Because of these demos Campbell soon was in demand as a session musician and became part of a group of studio musicians later known as the Wrecking Crew.
Campbell played on recordings by the Beach Boys, Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, the Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Jan and Dean, Bing Crosby, Phil Spector, Sammy Davis Jr., Doris Day, Bobby Vee, the Everly Brothers, Shelley Fabares, the Cascades, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Wayne Newton, the First Edition, the Kingston Trio, Roger Miller, Gene Clark, Lou Rawls, Claude King, Lorne Greene, Ronnie Dove, and Elvis Presley. He befriended Presley when he helped record the soundtrack for Viva Las Vegas in 1964. He later said, "Elvis and I were brought up the same humble way – picking cotton and looking at the south end of a north-bound mule."
In May 1961, he left the Champs and was subsequently signed by Crest Records, a subsidiary of American Music. His first solo release, "Turn Around, Look at Me", a moderate success, peaked at number 62 on the Hot 100 in 1961 but reached number 7 on the Hot 100 in a 1968 the Vogues cover. Campbell also formed the Gee Cees with former bandmembers from the Champs, performing at the Crossbow Inn in Van Nuys. The Gee Cees, too, released a single on Crest, the instrumental "Buzz Saw", which did not chart.
In 1962, Campbell signed with Capitol Records. After minor initial success with "Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry", his first single for the label, and "Kentucky Means Paradise", released by the Green River Boys featuring Glen Campbell, a string of unsuccessful singles and albums followed. By 1963 his playing and singing were heard on 586 recorded songs. He never learned to read music, but besides guitar, he could play the banjo, mandolin and bass. Fellow Wrecking Crew member Leon Russell said Campbell "was the best guitar player I'd heard before or since. Occasionally we'd play with 50- or 60-piece orchestras. His deal was he didn't read [music], so they would play it one time for him, and he had it".
From 1964 on, Campbell began to appear on television as a regular on Star Route, a syndicated series hosted by Rod Cameron, ABC's Shindig! and Hollywood Jamboree.
From December 1964 to mid-May 1965, Campbell was a touring member of the Beach Boys, filling in for Brian Wilson, playing bass guitar and singing falsetto harmonies. He was then replaced on the Beach Boys' tours by new member Bruce Johnston. Brian Wilson produced and co-wrote a single for Campbell, "Guess I'm Dumb", which failed to chart despite what writer David Howard called "a surging, elegant Burt Bacharach-inspired string and horn arrangement and Campbell's forlorn Roy Orbison-like vocal."
In 1965, he had his biggest solo hit yet, reaching number 45 on the Hot 100 with a version of Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Universal Soldier". Asked about the pacifist message of the song, he said that "people who are advocating burning draft cards should be hung".
Campbell continued as a session musician, playing guitar on the Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds, among other recordings. In April of that year, he joined Rick Nelson on a tour through the Far East, again playing bass.

1967–1972: Burning Bridges to The Goodtime Hour

When follow-up singles did not do well, and Capitol was considering dropping Campbell from the label in 1966, he was teamed with producer Al De Lory. Their first collaboration was "Burning Bridges×Burning BridgesMarch 1967 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1Burning Bridges2:28A2Just to Satisfy You2:25A3Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall2:29A4I’ll Hold You in My Heart2:25A5As Far as I’m Concerned2:13A6Less of Me2:35B1You’ve Still Got a Place in My Heart2:28B2To Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry2:30B3Old Memories Never Die2:16B4Faith2:04B5Together Again2:17", which became a top 20 country hit in early 1967, and the album of the same title.
Campbell and De Lory collaborated again on 1967's "Gentle on My Mind×Gentle On My MindAugust 1967 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1Gentle on My Mind2:58A2Catch the Wind2:18A3It’s Over2:04A4Bowling Green2:20A5Just Another Man2:12A6You’re My World2:35B1The World I Used to Know2:26B2Without Her2:15B3Mary in the Morning3:03B4Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow2:41B5Cryin’2:51", written by John Hartford, which was an overnight success. The song was followed by the bigger hit "By the Time I Get to Phoenix×By the Time I Get to PhoenixNovember 1967 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1By the Time I Get to Phoenix2:44A2Homeward Bound2:40A3Tomorrow Never Comes2:30A4Cold December (In Your Heart)2:29A5My Baby's Gone2:53A6Back in the Race1:58B1Hey Little One2:32B2Bad Seed2:20B3I'll Be Lucky Someday2:27B4You're Young and You'll Forget2:17B5Love Is a Lonesome River2:05" later in 1967, and "I Wanna Live" and "Wichita Lineman×Wichita LinemanNovember 1968 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1Wichita Lineman3:06A2(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay2:33A3If You Go Away3:42A4Ann1:59A5Words2:48A6Fate of Man2:40B1Dreams of the Everyday Housewife2:35B2The Straight Life3:00B3Reason to Believe2:21B4You Better Sit Down Kids3:15B5That’s Not Home2:46" in 1968, remaining on Billboard's Top 100 charts for 15 weeks. He won four Grammy Awards for "Gentle on My Mind" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix".
In 1967, Campbell was also the uncredited lead vocalist on "My World Fell Down" by Sagittarius, a studio group. The song reached number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1968, Campbell released "Wichita Lineman", a song written by Jimmy Webb. It was recorded with backing from members of The Wrecking Crew and appeared on his 1968 album of the same name. It reached number 3 on the US pop chart, remaining in the Top 100 for 15 weeks. In addition, the song also topped the American country music chart for two weeks, and the adult contemporary chart for six weeks.
The 1969 song "True Grit" by composer Elmer Bernstein and lyricist Don Black, and sung by Campbell, who co-starred in the movie, received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Song and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.
After he hosted a 1968 summer replacement for television's The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour variety show, Campbell was given his own weekly variety show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, which ran from January 1969 through June 1972. The show's comedy writers included Steve Martin and Rob Reiner. At the height of his popularity, a 1970 biography by Freda Kramer, The Glen Campbell Story, was published.
With Campbell's session-work connections, he hosted major names in music on his show, including the Beatles (on film), David Gates, Bread, the Monkees, Neil Diamond, Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Roger Miller, and Mel Tillis. Campbell helped launch the careers of Anne Murray and Jerry Reed, who were regulars on his Goodtime Hour program.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Campbell released a long series of singles and appeared in the movies True Grit (1969) with John Wayne and Kim Darby and had the lead role in Norwood (1970) with Kim Darby and Joe Namath.

1973–1979: "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Southern Nights"

After the cancellation of his CBS series in 1972, Campbell remained a regular on network television. He co-starred in a made-for-television movie, Strange Homecoming (1974), with Robert Culp and up-and-coming teen idol Leif Garrett. He hosted a number of television specials, including 1976's Down Home, Down Under with Olivia Newton-John. He co-hosted the American Music Awards from 1976 to 1978 and headlined the 1979 NBC special Glen Campbell: Back to Basics with guest-stars Seals and Crofts and Brenda Lee. He was a guest on many network talk and variety shows, including Donny & Marie and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he performed "Rhinestone Cowboy×Rhinestone CowboyJuly 1975 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Rhinestone Cowboy3:172Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)3:073Pencils for Sale3:414Count on Me3:115I'll Build a Bridge3:396Marie3:357Come Back3:258My Girl3:109I Miss You Tonight3:1110We're Over3:00". He also appeared on Cher, the Redd Foxx Comedy Hour, The Merv Griffin Show, The Midnight Special, DINAH!, Evening at Pops with Arthur Fiedler and The Mike Douglas Show.
In the mid-1970s, he had more hits with "Rhinestone Cowboy", "Southern Nights×Southern NightsFebruary 1977 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Southern Nights3:07A2This Is Sarah’s Song2:34A3For Cryin’ Out Loud3:03A4God Only Knows3:18A5Sunflower2:50B1Guide Me2:24B2Early Morning Song3:30B3(I’m Getting) Used to the Crying2:47B4Let Go3:30B5How High Did We Go?3:04" (both U.S. number one hits), "Sunflower×Sunflower20 June 1977 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksASunflower2:50BHow High Did We Go3:04" (U.S. number 39) (written by Neil Diamond), and "Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)×Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)1975 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksACountry Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)3:05BRecord Collector's Dream3:00" (U.S. number 11).
"Rhinestone Cowboy" was Campbell's largest-selling single and one of his best-known recordings, initially with over 2 million copies sold. Campbell had heard songwriter Larry Weiss' version while on tour of Australia in 1974. Both songs were in the October 4, 1975, Hot 100 top 10. "Rhinestone Cowboy" continues to be used in TV shows and films, including Desperate Housewives, Daddy Day Care, and High School High. It was the inspiration for the 1984 Dolly Parton/Sylvester Stallone movie Rhinestone. The main phrase of Campbell's recording was included in Dickie Goodman's Jaws movie parody song "Mr. Jaws". Campbell also made a techno/pop version of the song in 2002 with UK artists Rikki & Daz and went to the top 10 in the UK with the dance version and related music video.
In January 1975, Campbell was awarded 4 gold records along with a platinum award for wholesale sales in excess of $1,000,000 in Australia.
"Southern Nights", by Allen Toussaint, his other number one pop-rock-country crossover hit, was generated with the help of Jimmy Webb and Jerry Reed, who inspired the famous guitar lick introduction to the song, which was the most-played jukebox number of 1977.
From 1971 to 1983, Campbell was the celebrity host of the Los Angeles Open, an annual professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour.

1980–2010: Later career

Campbell made a cameo appearance in the 1980 Clint Eastwood movie Any Which Way You Can, for which he recorded the title song.
From 1982 to 1983, he hosted a 30-minute syndicated music show, The Glen Campbell Music Show.
Campbell gave up smoking in March 1992 and believed it improved his singing voice. In 1991, Campbell voiced Chanticleer the rooster in Don Bluth's live action/animated film Rock-a-Doodle.
In 1999 he was featured on VH1's Behind the Music and on A&E Network's Biography and a PBS "in concert" special in 2001. He also appeared on a number of CMT programs, where he ranked among their Greatest Men of Country Music.
He is credited with giving Alan Jackson his first big break after Jackson recorded with Campbell's music publishing business in the early 1990s. Campbell also served as an inspiration to Keith Urban, who cites Campbell as a strong influence on his performing career.
In 2005, Campbell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Glen was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in the first group of inductees alongside other members of the Wrecking Crew in 2007. It was announced in April 2008 that Campbell was returning to his signature label, Capitol, to release his new album, Meet Glen Campbell×Meet Glen Campbell19 August 2008 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1Sing3:45A2Walls3:31A3Angel Dream2:29A4Times Like These3:28A5These Days3:29B1Sadly, Beautiful3:20B2All I Want Is You4:15B3Jesus3:10B4Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)2:35B5Grow Old With Me3:39B6Galveston (2008 remix)2:46. The album was released on August 19. With this album, he branched off in a different musical direction, covering tracks from artists such as Travis, U2, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jackson Browne, and Foo Fighters. It was Campbell's first release on Capitol in over 15 years. Musicians from Cheap Trick and Jellyfish contributed to the album as well. The first single, a cover of Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", was released to radio in July 2008.
In March 2010, Campbell announced the release of an album titled Ghost on the Canvas×Ghost on the Canvas29 August 2011 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1A Better Place1:502Ghost on the Canvas4:123The Billstown Crossroads1:034A Thousand Lifetimes4:085It's Your Amazing Grace3:146Second Street North0:357In My Arms3:268May 21st, 19690:349Nothing but the Whole Wide World3:4110Wild and Waste1:1311Hold on Hope3:3212Valley of the Son0:5613Any Trouble3:0014Strong3:3215The Rest Is Silence0:5016There's No Me... Without You6:16. Intended as a farewell album, it served as a companion to Meet Glen Campbell (2008).

2011–2013: Illness and retirement

In June 2011, Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six months earlier. Following his Alzheimer's diagnosis, Campbell embarked on a final "Goodbye Tour", with three of his children joining him in his backup band. He was too ill to travel to Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 2012. His final show was on November 30, 2012, in Napa, California.
After the end of the tour, Campbell entered the studio in Nashville to record what would be his final album, Adiós×Adiós9 June 2017 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Everybody’s Talkin’2:572Just Like Always3:493Funny How Time Slips Away3:324Arkansas Farmboy3:315Am I All Alone (or Is It Only Me) (intro)0:456Am I All Alone (or Is It Only Me)2:447It Won’t Bring Her Back3:328Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right2:359She Thinks I Still Care3:5610Postcard From Paris4:3311A Thing Called Love2:2012Adiós3:06, which would not be revealed until five years later. According to his wife Kim, he wanted to preserve "what magic was left" in what would be his final recordings. In January 2013, Campbell recorded his final song, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You", during what would be his last recording sessions. The song, which is featured in the 2014 documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me, was released on September 30, 2014, with the documentary following on October 24. Directed by longtime friend James Keach, the documentary examined Campbell's Alzheimer's diagnosis and how it affected his musical performances during his final tour across the United States with his family. The documentary received critical acclaim, earning a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
On January 15, 2015, Campbell and fellow songwriter Julian Raymond were nominated for Best Original Song at the 87th Academy Awards.
In March 2016, it was confirmed that Campbell was in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease.
On August 30, 2016, during the 10th Annual ACM Honors, Keith Urban, Blake Shelton and others performed a medley of Glen Campbell's songs in tribute to him. His wife Kim accepted the Career Achievement Award on his behalf. Alice Cooper described him as being one of the five best guitar players in the music industry.
Campbell's final album, Adiós, featuring twelve songs from his final 2012–13 sessions, was announced in April 2017. It was released on June 9, 2017. Adiós was named by the UK's Official Charts Company as the best-selling country/Americana album of 2017 in Britain.
In 2024, Glen Campbell Duets: Ghost on the Canvas Sessions was released. It is a reworked version of Ghost on the Canvas, featuring newly recorded guest vocals performing posthumous duets with Campbell, from artists such as Carole King, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Hope Sandoval and Dolly Parton.

Relationships and children

Campbell was married four times and fathered six sons and three daughters:

In 1955, Campbell married Diane Marie Kirk (born January 3, 1939; died July 16, 2015) at the Bernalillo County, New Mexico, courthouse. They had two children—Glen Travis Campbell Jr., who was born two months prematurely on July 25, 1955, and died a few days later; and Deborah Kay "Debby" (born September 21, 1956). After a mandatory 12-month separation, they divorced in 1959.
On September 20, 1959, Campbell married Billie Jean Nunley (1939–1993), an Albuquerque beautician, who gave birth to Kelli Glen, William Travis, and Wesley Kane. Billie Campbell filed for divorce in 1975, and their divorce was final in 1976.
On September 2, 1976, Campbell married singer Mac Davis's second wife, Sarah Jan Davis (née Barg) in Carson City, Nevada. They had one child named Dillon and divorced in 1980.
After his divorce from Sarah Barg Davis, Campbell began a relationship with fellow country artist Tanya Tucker. The relationship was marked by frequent tabloid gossip and articles. The couple recorded a number of songs together, including the single "Dream Lover", and they performed the national anthem together at the 1980 Republican National Convention.

Campbell married Kimberly "Kim" Woollen (born June 18, 1958) in 1982. The couple met on a blind date in 1981 when Woollen was a Radio City Music Hall "Rockette". Together they had three children: Cal, Shannon, and Ashley. All three joined Campbell onstage starting in 2010 as part of his touring band.

Religion

Campbell was raised in the Church of Christ. In the 1980s, he joined a Baptist church in Phoenix, Arizona, along with his wife Kim. In a 2008 interview, Campbell said that they had been adherents of Messianic Judaism for two decades.

Alcoholism and drug addiction

Campbell began having problems with alcoholism and cocaine addiction in the 1970s. He credited his fourth wife Kim with helping him turn his life around. Campbell eventually stopped drinking alcohol and taking drugs in 1987. However, it was evident that he had relapsed in 2003 when he pleaded guilty in Arizona to aggravated drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident and spent 10 days in Maricopa County jail.

Politics

On The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour television show, Campbell avoided political topics. Around this time, in interviews he described himself as "a registered Democrat", but also said he "voted Republican a few times", and he performed in support of both Republican and Democratic politicians. Campbell performed the National Anthem at the 1980 Republican National Convention and continued to make a number of campaign appearances for Republican candidates during the 1980s.

Death, legacy and tributes

In June 2011, Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six months earlier. He became a patient at an Alzheimer's long-term care and treatment facility in 2014. Campbell died in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 8, 2017, at the age of 81. He was buried at his family cemetery in Billstown, Arkansas.
In June 2020, Campbell's wife of 34 years, Kim Campbell, published Gentle on My Mind: In Sickness and in Health with Glen Campbell, a memoir of their life together.

Tributes and acclaim

Following the announcement of Campbell's death, fellow musicians, friends and fans expressed their condolences and noted his music legacy. Recording Academy president Neil Portnow praised him for having been "an American treasure" whose songs, guitar work, and "dazzling showmanship shot him to superstardom in the 1960s" to make him one of the most successful music artists in history.
Tributes poured in from countless others in the industry, including Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, comedy writer and actor Steve Martin, Sheryl Crow, Dolly Parton, Lenny Kravitz, and Anne Murray. Campbell's former partner Tanya Tucker wrote and released a song in his honor, "Forever Loving You".
Jimmy Webb, who wrote many of Campbell's hits and worked with him throughout his life, said that Campbell could play with "any guitar player in the world, from George Benson to Eric Clapton", adding that Paul McCartney considered him among the best guitar players. "People will realize what an extraordinary genius Glen really was", Webb told ABC News.
The Country Music Television Channel (CMT) aired a special about his career a few days after his death. Other networks were also "lining up to honor his life and brilliant legacy", including interviews with Keith Urban, Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton, among others.
Campbell's daughter Ashley was invited to perform at The O2 Arena in London as part of the C2C: Country to Country festival. Her set was billed as a special tribute to her father and included a medley of his hits alongside "Remembering", a song she wrote about Campbell's battle with Alzheimer's.

Discography and videography

Campbell recorded and released 60 studio albums and six live albums between 1962 and 2017. He also lent his vocals to four soundtracks for motion pictures: True Grit (1969), Norwood (1970), Rock-a-Doodle (1992), and the 2014 documentary film Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me. He placed a total of 82 singles (one of which was a re-release) on either the Billboard Country Chart, the Billboard Hot 100, or the Adult Contemporary Chart, nine of which peaked at number one on at least one of those charts. He released 15 video albums and featured in 21 music videos. His first two music videos, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix×By the Time I Get to PhoenixNovember 1967 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1By the Time I Get to Phoenix2:44A2Homeward Bound2:40A3Tomorrow Never Comes2:30A4Cold December (In Your Heart)2:29A5My Baby's Gone2:53A6Back in the Race1:58B1Hey Little One2:32B2Bad Seed2:20B3I'll Be Lucky Someday2:27B4You're Young and You'll Forget2:17B5Love Is a Lonesome River2:05" and "Wichita Lineman×Wichita LinemanNovember 1968 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1Wichita Lineman3:06A2(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay2:33A3If You Go Away3:42A4Ann1:59A5Words2:48A6Fate of Man2:40B1Dreams of the Everyday Housewife2:35B2The Straight Life3:00B3Reason to Believe2:21B4You Better Sit Down Kids3:15B5That’s Not Home2:46", were directed by Gene Weed in 1967 and 1968, respectively. Campbell released his final music video, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You", in 2014 to coincide with the release of the documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me. His final studio album, Adiós×Adiós9 June 2017 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Everybody’s Talkin’2:572Just Like Always3:493Funny How Time Slips Away3:324Arkansas Farmboy3:315Am I All Alone (or Is It Only Me) (intro)0:456Am I All Alone (or Is It Only Me)2:447It Won’t Bring Her Back3:328Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right2:359She Thinks I Still Care3:5610Postcard From Paris4:3311A Thing Called Love2:2012Adiós3:06, was released on June 9, 2017.
In May 2019, it was announced that Glen Campbell's The Legacy box set was to be expanded and reissued.

American Music Awards

1976: Favorite Pop/Rock Single – "Rhinestone Cowboy×Rhinestone CowboyJuly 1975 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Rhinestone Cowboy3:172Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)3:073Pencils for Sale3:414Count on Me3:115I'll Build a Bridge3:396Marie3:357Come Back3:258My Girl3:109I Miss You Tonight3:1110We're Over3:00"
1976: Favorite Country Single – "Rhinestone Cowboy"
1977: Favorite Country Album – Rhinestone Cowboy

Country Music Association Awards

1968: Entertainer of the Year
1968: Male Vocalist of the Year
2017: Musical Event of the Year – "Funny How Time Slips Away" with Willie Nelson

GMA Dove Awards

1986: Album by a Secular Artist – No More Night×No More Night14 August 1985 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1No More Night4:01A2Good Side Of Tomorrow2:25A3When All Of God's Singers Get Home3:12A4Jesus Is His Name2:16A5Trust In God And Do The Right2:45B1Suffer Little Children4:15B2Who Will Sing One More Song2:12B3Before There Could Be Me2:17B4Overflow3:01B5You Ask Me How I Know3:07
1992: Southern Gospel Recorded Song of the Year – "Where Shadows Never Fall"
2000: Country Album of the Year – A Glen Campbell Christmas×A Glen Campbell Christmas1999 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1The First Noel2:352O Little Town of Bethlehem2:323God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen2:414Silent Night2:085Hark! the Herald Angels Sing3:066Away in a Manger3:037What Child Is This?3:328O Come, All Ye Faithful2:219It Came Upon a Midnight Clear3:1710O Holy Night3:5611Joy to the World2:30

Other honors

1968: Music Operators of America (MOA) Awards – Artist of the Year
1970: Golden Globe Award nomination for Best New Star of the Year – Actor in the movie "True Grit"
1974: Country Music Association of Great Britain's Entertainer of the Year
2005: Country Music Hall of Fame induction
2008: Q Legend Award
2012: Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. Career Achievement Award
2014: Hollywood Music in Media Awards Lifetime Achievement Award
2014: Academy Award nomination for "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" (co-writer)
2018: Arkansas Country Music Awards – Lifetime Achievement Award