Glen Campbell Dies At 81
It’s the news we had been tragically expecting, but it is jarring nonetheless — Glen Campbell, the indelible voice behind 21 Top 40 hits including “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Gentle On My Mind,” “Wichita Lineman” “Galveston,” “Southern Nights” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” to name just a few, died Tuesday a the age of 81 due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. In a statement, Campbell’s family said, “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and legendary singer and guitarist, Glen Travis Campbell, at the age of 81, following his long and courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease.”
During a career that spanned six decades, Campbell sold over 45 million records and earned ten Grammys and ten ACM Awards. In 1968, one of his biggest years, he outsold the Beatles. In the early ’60s, after moving from Delight, Arkansas to Los Angeles, Campbell solidified a spot in the now legendary group of session musicians known as “The Wrecking Crew.” As Rolling Stone reports, in 1963 alone Campbell appeared on 586 cuts, and countless others throughout the decade, including The Byrds‘ “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Elvis Presley‘s “Viva Las Vegas,” Merle Haggard‘s “Mama Tried” and the Righteous Brothers‘ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.”
In late 1964 Campbell briefly replaced an ailing Brian Wilson as a touring member of The Beach Boys, and he had his first major hit in 1967 with “By The Time I Get to Phoenix,” written by the remarkable Jimmy Webb, who also wrote “Wichita Lineman” and “Galveston.” In the summer of 1968, Campbell guest-hosted the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, which led to his own variety show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, which ran from 1969-1972. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
In 2011, at the age of 75, Campbell revealed that he was battling Alzheimer’s disease. In June of that year, he announced he was retiring and released his final album of original music, Ghost on the Canvas, embarking on a farewell tour with three of his children backing him. That tour (and Campbell’s struggles) were vividly chronicled in the 2014 documentary, I’ll Be Me. Campbell spent his final years in a memory care facility near Nashville, and in April of this year, Campbell released Adiós, his final studio album, which was recorded after his Goodbye Tour.
Campbell is survived by his wife, Kim Campbell; their three children, Cal, Shannon and Ashley; his five children from previous marriages, Debby, Kelli, Travis, Kane and Dillon; ten grandchildren and great- and great-great-grandchildren; sisters Barbara, Sandra and Jane; and brothers John Wallace “Shorty” and Gerald. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Glen Campbell Memorial Fund at BrightFocus Foundation through CareLiving.org.
