Glen Campbell was a rare entertainer who got to say goodbye to his life and career in every way he knew how.
Before his mind evaporated into Alzheimer’s disease, Campbell was able to go out on one last big tour, star in a documentary and record an album of his favorite songs, fittingly called Adios. Three of his children sang on the album, which was released earlier this summer.
The country superstar died Tuesday morning in Nashville at 81. A guitarist since age 4, Campbell’s musical talent, boyish looks and friendly charm brought him decades of success. He won five Grammys, sold more than 45 million records, had 12 gold albums and 75 chart hits, including No. 1 songs with Rhinestone Cowboy and Southern Nights.
His performance of the title song from the 1969 film True Grit, in which he played a Texas Ranger alongside Oscar-winner John Wayne, received an Academy Award nomination. Campbell was nominated again for an Oscar in 2015 for I’m Not Gonna Miss You, a song from the documentary Glen Campbell... I'll Be Me. The 2014 film about Campbell’s farewell tour in 2011 and 2012 offers a poignant look at his decline from Alzheimer’s while showcasing his virtuoso guitar chops that somehow continued to shine as his mind unravelled.
His musical career dated back to the early years of rock n’ roll. He toured with the Champs of Tequila fame. He was part of the house band for the ABC TV show Shindig! and a member of Phil Spector’s Wrecking Crew studio band. Campbell also played guitar on Frank Sinatra’s Strangers In the Night, The Monkees’ I’m a Believer and Elvis Presley’s Viva las Vegas. “That was a kick. I really enjoyed that. I didn’t want to go nowhere. I was making more money than I ever made just doing studio work,” Campbell had said.
One of 12 children, Campbell left his native Arkansas and a life of farm work as a teenager in pursuit of music. He moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to join his uncle’s band and appear on his uncle’s radio show. By his early 20s, Campbell had formed his own group, the Western Wranglers, and moved to los Angeles. He opened for The Doors and sang and played bass with The Beach Boys as a replacement for Brian Wilson.
By the late 60s, he was a performer on his own, and an appearance on Joey Bishop’s show led to his TV breakthrough. Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers saw the programme and asked Campbell if he’d like to host a summertime series. “The whole lid just blew off,” Campbell told the AP. “I had never had anything like that happen to me. I got more phone calls. It was awesome. For the first couple of days I was like how do they know meIJ I didn’t realise the power of television.”
His guests included country acts, The Monkees, lucille Ball, Cream, Neil Diamond and Ella Fitzgerald.
like his crossover contemporaries Johnny Cash, Roy Clark and Kenny Rogers, Campbell also enjoyed success on TV. He released more than 70 of his own albums and in the 1990s recorded a series of gospel CDs.
Campbell was married four times and had eight children. As he would confide in painful detail, he suffered for his fame and made others suffer as well. He drank heavily, used drugs and indulged in a turbulent relationship with country singer Tanya Tucker in the early 1980s. In late 2003, he was arrested near his home in Phoenix after causing a minor traffic accident. He later pleaded guilty to “extreme” DUI and leaving the scene of an accident. He even served a 10-day sentence.
Having led a full life, his final single was I’m Not Gonna Miss You. But we all will.