Country Legend Glen Campbell Has Passed Away
After a protracted battle with Alzheimer’s, and a remarkable career that minted one of the most recognized voices in country music and made him an ambassador for the genre to millions as many of his songs crossed over into contemporary spheres, Glen Campbell has passed away at the age of 81. He died on Tuesday, August 8th in a Nashville care facility.
With more than 45 million records sold, 12 Certified Gold albums to his name, and 4 Platinum certifications, Glen Campbell left an indelible mark on country, rock, and pop music throughout his 50+ year career with signature songs such as “Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston,” “Gentle on My Mind” written by John Hartford, Jimmy Webb’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Rhinestone Cowboy,” and many more.
Campbell was also the recipient of multiple Grammy Awards, including making history in 1967 for winning a total of four awards in country and pop categories, including two for “Gentle on My Mind” and two for “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” Glen also received a Lifetime Achievement from the Grammy Awards in 2012. The CMA’s decorated Glen with their Entertainer of the Year Award in 1968, and he won the CMA’s and ACM’s Male Vocalist of the Year that same year. Glen Campbell is also an inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Born Glen Travis Campbell on April 22nd, 1936, in Billstown, Arkansas as one of 12 children. He started playing guitar as a youth, with his uncle Boo acting as a big influence on his passion for music. Later Glen would move to Albuquerque to join his uncle’s band called Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys. In 1958, Glen formed his first band as a frontman, called the Western Wranglers.
In 1960, Glen Campbell moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician, and ended up becoming one of the legendary members of studio musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, playing on recordings from Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Jan and Dean, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra among others. During this time Glen also began writing songs for publishing company American Music, and recording demos.
Beyond his musical contributions, Glen Campbell was a common face on television, hosting the The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS from January 1969 through June 1972, as well as making multiple appearances on various other TV shows and live broadcasts. He also played a supporting role in the classic movie True Grit, where he earned a Golden Globe nomination for his acting, and an Academy Award nomination for contributing to the soundtrack.
Glen Campbell and his legacy was pushed to the forefront recently when he went public with his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in 2011. After a farewell tour, Glen’s family was forthright about his struggles with memory loss. When Campbell’s final album Adios was released on June 9th, his family said Glen had no idea a new album of his was out. The struggles of Glen and his family became a focal point for awareness of Alzheimer’s.
Glen Campbell is survived by wife Kim Campbell, three children from their marriage—Cal, Shannon and Ashley, and his children from previous marriages, Debby, Kelli, Travis, Kane and Dillon, as well has grandchildren and great grandchildren. His daughter Ashley is also a musician and performer.
Andrew
August 8, 2017 @ 2:47 pm
The Beach Boys are one of my all-time favorite bands and I was amazed when I learned Glen was the guitarist on Pet Sounds and so many other great albums before he ever had a hit of his own. It’s impossible to write the history of American music without Glen Campbell.
Dan Morris
August 9, 2017 @ 3:38 am
He not only played on Pet Sounds he contributed some backup vocals and when Brian Wilson gave up touring to concentrate on composing and producing Glen went on the road as the Beach Boys bass player. The man had talent in spades. Though sorry to see him pass on I’m glad his suffering is over.
Scotty J
August 8, 2017 @ 2:56 pm
Extraordinarily talented musician. Go to YouTube some time and check out some live clips of him even in his later years playing the guitar. Amazing stuff.
And maybe with the exception of Taupin/E. John never has there been a better pairing of lyricist/singer than Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell.
Phil Knipe
August 9, 2017 @ 3:21 am
I’ll take Glen Campbell & Jimmy Webb any day, thanks.
Jacob W.
August 8, 2017 @ 2:57 pm
R.I.P
Bear
August 8, 2017 @ 6:56 pm
Damn ain’t that the truth. Jimmy Webb!!
Luckyoldsun
August 8, 2017 @ 3:25 pm
A complicated guy–You hear good and bad things about him–but a huge talent.
And his final tour, while sick with Alzheimer’s was riveting.
Campbell once said (It might have even been in his book) that when he played on guitar on “Strangers In the Night,” he couldn’t stop from staring at Sinatra (Sinatra used to record with the orchestra in the studio) until Frank asked one of his guys, “Who’s the f*g guitar player?”
seak05
August 8, 2017 @ 3:45 pm
RIP to Glen Campbell
If he was a contemporary country musician would be interesting what this blog would have had to say about him…
Marc
August 8, 2017 @ 4:19 pm
I was thinking the same but what his contemporaries said about Glen and his legacy have stood the test of time. Not many traditional artists are sticking up for bro-country, at least that I have read. But you bring up an interesting point.
Brian
August 8, 2017 @ 7:13 pm
I think he might be looked at very similar as a Vince Gill, even if he was not your taste totally, his songs still told stories in a respectable country way and his musicianship was off the charts. The amount of session work would have probably even given him more musician credit that Vince.
The Senator
August 9, 2017 @ 7:07 am
Hit the nail right on the head with that one. I could see a lot of parallels between Gill and Campbell.
R2D2
August 9, 2017 @ 8:05 am
Seak05 never misses an opportunity to somehow take a shot at this blog. That is par for the course i suppose, even on a post about the passing of a legend of American music who transcended genre. Real classy.
Fuzzy TwoShirts
August 8, 2017 @ 4:01 pm
“The 12 string guitar of Glen Campbell” is a killer instrumental album.
“Walking in the Sun” is my favorite album of his.
shame, but I’ve dealt with alzheimer’s before, I feel… relieved in a sense.
CountryCharm
August 8, 2017 @ 4:51 pm
He fought a long and hard battle. He’s on to better things. RIP
Fuzzy TwoShirts
August 8, 2017 @ 5:31 pm
that’s what happened to Grammy Hairy TwoShirts.
Most of my growing up I went through this firsthand.
I always felt connected to Glen Campbell, in a sense. Like after his diagnosis I could understand him better because I was so familiar with the various types of memory and cognitive loss.
Also “Walking in the Sun” was the soundtrack to my first several months out of high school. So that album will always be sentimental to me.
His picking on William Tell is some of my favorite guitar work.
I’ve been picking on my electric v-body a bit today, mourning in my own way I suppose. probably first time in 2017 I’ve even played the thing. I usually pick my acoustic twelve string.
Gena R.
August 8, 2017 @ 4:16 pm
RIP Glen. 🙁
kapam
August 8, 2017 @ 4:19 pm
Glen’s contributions to country music (and music overall) cannot be overstated. While I don’t care much for the term “crossover”, he was a genuine representative of country-influenced music to the mainstream pop/rock audience, and a high-quality one at that.
His sheer ability – vocally, instrumentally and compositionally – looms large across the landscape, particularly in the 60’s and 70’s.
He will be a highly-welcomed member of the super-group in Heaven, that’s for sure.
Erik North
August 8, 2017 @ 4:40 pm
I would wager that it’s safe to say there will never be anyone else quite like Glen Campbell again. The man had a career ledger that, in my opinion, dwarfs virtually anybody out there right now, whether it’s having been a prestigious member of the Wrecking Crew, subbing for Brian Wilson in 1964-65, making Jimmy Webb a songwriting household name, or that whole swath of country/pop crossover hits he had between 1967 and the early 1980s. He also encompassed many styles, not only country, but rock, pop, folk, blues, and even bluegrass.
And let’s not forget his Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour which ran on TV from 1969 to 1972, and, like Johnny Cash’s show, introduced us to a whole lot of great folks who went on to have equally stellar careers themselves. No matter what style you’re a fan of, G.C. will always be a legend, and his loss will be deeply felt.
Desperado Destry
August 8, 2017 @ 5:32 pm
Thanks for the music and the memories Glen, Rest In Peace. You will undoubtedly be missed. If only we had a record of all the legends that have gone on singing together in that circle. The circle that is unbroken and that can’t be broken.
Lone Wolf
August 8, 2017 @ 5:35 pm
Glen Campbell had that boyish charm to go along with his strong work ethic. I’m going to say that his playing with such different artists helped shape his sound. ‘Legend’ and ‘icon’ deservedly. R. I. P. Glen…..
Gina
August 8, 2017 @ 5:40 pm
Just listened to “Wichita Lineman” and got misty eyed. Next to Waylon and Willie, he was the country musician my family listened to the most when I was little. What a talent and brave soul.
Luckyoldsun
August 8, 2017 @ 7:17 pm
Wade Hayes was a very good new-traditionalist singer in the ’90s, but he issued “Wichita Lineman” as what was supposed to be the lead single of his third album/CD and it absolutely died. (It killed his momentum and his career never recoverd.) Those Jimmy Webb songs (and also “Gentle On My Mind,” which was not a Webb song) had complex and elliptical lyrics and not just anyone could sing them. It took Glen Campbell’s singular talents to really bring them out in their best light.
the pistolero
August 9, 2017 @ 3:48 pm
I…actually remember Wade Hayes, and that cover of “Wichita Lineman.” In fact, and I am almost ashamed to admit this, I’m pretty sure Wade’s cover was the first version of that song that I ever heard. (I didn’t start really getting into pre-Class of 1989 country until the years after I graduated high school — about a year after the album that was originally slated to have that song on it came out, actually.) It wasn’t bad, but the original was and is on a completely different level for me. Transcendent, even.
Canoe Paddler
August 8, 2017 @ 5:51 pm
He was one of the best guitarists of all time. God rest his soul.
Sbach66
August 8, 2017 @ 6:43 pm
The “I’ll Be Me” film that came out a few years ago is one of the saddest things I’ve watched in a while. RIP, Glen.
CountryKnight
August 8, 2017 @ 6:53 pm
He also gave Alan Jackson his big break.
“Galveston” and “Rhinestone Cowboy” are all-time classics!
God bless you, Glen! Go play with the angels!
Desperado Destry
August 8, 2017 @ 8:03 pm
He also helped Anne Murray and Jerry Reed start their careers. That’s a classic act, using his platform to bring other talents into the busininess. A good man above all.
Bear
August 8, 2017 @ 6:57 pm
Now I suppose it is time for me to teach the young hipsters that there was more to Glen than just “Rhinestone Cowboy”!
Corncaster
August 8, 2017 @ 7:19 pm
which is still a great song, dammit
and its massive and inevitable hook is followed by wonderful, poignant chords
who has the guts to write like that now?
Ray
August 8, 2017 @ 8:01 pm
Give a listen to Glen’s album with Bobbie Gentry. A great childhood memory.
Bertox
August 8, 2017 @ 8:14 pm
World-class singer, world-class guitarist. A rare and phenomenal talent with a superb body of work and legacy. Rest easy, country boy
the pistolero
August 8, 2017 @ 8:22 pm
Oh, Glen Campbell. One of the all time greats. When I talk about how pop country used to be a whole lot better, or how it doesn’t have to be bad by default, he is one of the folks I mention.
May he fly with the angels, and may God grant peace to his loved ones.
TX Music Jim
August 8, 2017 @ 10:53 pm
The vocal and guitar chops were second to know one. RIP maestro!
Bill
August 9, 2017 @ 6:32 am
My dad was a lineman for Southern Bell for many years. When I was young, he used to let me ride in his telephone truck and watch him climb poles. To this day, whenever I hear Wichita Lineman, I am transported back in time and I see my dad climbing way up high on that telephone pole. RIP, Glen…and thanks for giving me a song about my dad.
Bill
August 9, 2017 @ 6:33 am
By the way….my dad’s name was Glen too.
-Ed.
August 9, 2017 @ 6:35 am
As a teenager in the 1960s I can still remember hearing Glenn Campbell on pop radio. I would always stop what I was doing and focus on listening to him. He had that kind of effect at the time. His voice was so open and honest, and his lyrics were intriguing. They still are. RIP.
caj
August 9, 2017 @ 8:13 am
Loved Glen Campbell. He had an amazing voice and sang incredible songs.
I put him in the category of the likes of Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle, Anne Murray, and Eddie Rabbitt – country artists who could sing great country songs but were just pop-sounding enough to be played on pop radio and managed to bring a whole new audience to country music.
Thank you, Glen, for Gentile On My Mind, Wichita Lineman, Try A Little Kindness, Rhinestone Cowboy, Country Boy (You Got Your Feet In L.A.), Southern Nights, Sunflower, Faithless Love and so many other great songs you shared with us. God bless and prayers to his loved ones.
Bradley Olson
August 9, 2017 @ 11:40 am
Glen’s music style can only be called Glen Campbell music
Greg Green
August 9, 2017 @ 2:35 pm
Spent some time wandering on YouTube. Found Glen doing Classical Gas and William Tell Overture. Amazing.
Also very nice 10 minute interview with Alice Cooper, of all people, who was very close to Glen. Alice said Eddie Van Halen tried to get Alice to get Glen to give him some guitar lessons. John Mayer also did a tribute song, Gentle on my Mind, to Glen.
He touched many more than I realized. It’s nice to know that people beyond the country realm treasured his contribution to our lives.