Early life

Glen Campbell was born in Billstown, a tiny community near Delight in Pike County, Arkansas, to John Wesley and Carrie Dell (Stone) Campbell. He was the seventh son of 12 children. His father was a sharecropper of Scottish ancestry. He started playing guitar as a youth and credits his uncle Boo for teaching him the guitar.

In 1954, Campbell moved to Albuquerque 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. In 1958, Campbell formed his own band, the Western Wranglers.

Career

1960-66: Early career

In 1960, Campbell moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician. Around this time he joined The Champs. Campbell soon was in demand as a session musician, and was part of a group of studio musicians known as The Wrecking Crew. During this period, he played on recordings by Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Jan and Dean, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and Phil Spector.

By January 1961, Campbell had found a daytime job at publishing company American Music, writing songs and recording demos. 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", was a moderate success, peaking at number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961,. The Vogues' remake reached #7 on 17-24 August 1968, starting a year-long series of remakes for the quartet. 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, instrumentals "Buzz Saw" with "Annie Had a Party", 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.

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 early March 1965, Campbell was a touring member of the Beach Boys, filling in for Brian Wilson. He also played guitar on the group's Pet Sounds (1966) album, among other recordings. On tour, he played bass guitar and sang falsetto harmonies. In April 1966, he joined Ricky Nelson on a tour through the Far East, again playing bass.

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 elected to assert that "people who are advocating burning draft cards should be hung."

1967-72: 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. Together, they first collaborated on "Burning Bridges" which became a top 20 country hit in early 1967, and the album of the same name. Campbell and De Lory collaborated again on 1967's "Gentle on My Mind", written by John Hartford, which was an overnight success. The song was followed by the bigger hit "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" later in 1967, and "I Wanna Live" and "Wichita Lineman" in 1968. Campbell won four Grammy Awards for his performances on "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.

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.

His biggest hits in the late 1960s were the songs written by Jimmy Webb: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", and "Where's the Playground Susie". An album of mainly Webb-penned compositions, Reunion: The Songs of Jimmy Webb, was released in 1974, but it produced no hit single records. "Wichita Lineman" (1968) was selected as one of the greatest songs of the 20th century by Mojo magazine in 1997 and by Blender in 2001.

After he hosted a 1968 summer replacement for television's The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour variety show, Campbell hosted his own weekly variety show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, from January 1969 through June 1972. 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 and 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 Norwood (1970) with Kim Darby and Joe Namath.

1973-79: "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 1976-78 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, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Cher, the Redd Foxx Comedy Hour, The Merv Griffin Show, The Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack, DINAH!, Evening at Pops with Arthur Fiedler and The Mike Douglas Show. From 1982 to 1983, he hosted a 30-minute syndicated music show on NBC, The Glen Campbell Music Show.

In the mid-1970s, he had more hits with "Rhinestone Cowboy", "Southern Nights" (both U.S. number-one hits), "Sunflower" (U.S. number 39) (written by Neil Diamond), and "Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)" (U.S. number 11).

"Rhinestone Cowboy" was Campbell's largest-selling single, initially with over 2 million copies sold. Campbell had heard songwriter Larry Weiss' version while on tour of Australia in 1974. The main phrase of Campbell's recording was included in Dickie Goodman's Jaws movie parody song "Mr. Jaws". 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. 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.

"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-present: Later career and Country Music Hall of Fame induction

• Campbell made a cameo appearance in the 1980 Clint Eastwood movie Any Which Way You Can, for which he recorded the title song.
• In 1991, he provided the voice of the Elvis Presley sound-alike rooster Chanticleer in the Don Bluth film Rock-a-Doodle

• In 1999, Campbell was featured on VH-1's Behind the Music, A&E Network's Biography in 2001, and on a number of CMT programs. Campbell ranked 29th on CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003.
• He is also credited with giving Alan Jackson his first big break. Campbell met Jackson's wife (a flight attendant with Piedmont Airlines) at Atlanta Airport and gave her his publishing manager's business card. Jackson went to work for Campbell's music publishing business in the early 1990s and later had many of his hit songs published in part by Campbell's company, Seventh Son Music. 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.
• It was announced in April 2008 that Campbell was returning to his signature label, Capitol, to release his new album, Meet Glen Campbell. 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, a farewell album titled Ghost on the Canvas was announced which served as a companion to Meet Glen Campbell (2008). Ghost on the Canvas was released on August 30, 2011, with collaborations that include Paul Westerberg (writer of the title track), The Wallflowers singer Jakob Dylan, Chris Isaak, Rick Nielsen and Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins.

• In January 2013, Campbell recorded his final song, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You". 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. On January 15, 2015 Campbell and fellow songwriter Julian Raymond were nominated for Best Original Song at the 87th Academy Awards.

Personal life

Relationships and children

Campbell has been married four times and is the father of five sons and three daughters, ranging in year of birth from 1956 to 1986. Campbell's eldest daughter is Debby, from his marriage (1955-59) to Diane Kirk. After divorcing Kirk, Campbell married Billie Jean Nunley, a beautician from Carlsbad, New Mexico, who gave birth to Kelli, Travis, and Kane. Billie Campbell filed for divorce in 1975 and their divorce was final in 1976. Shortly after that, he married singer Mac Davis's second wife, Sarah Barg, in September 1976. They had one child named Dillon and divorced three weeks after Dillon's birth in 1980.

Immediately after his divorce from Barg, 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".

Campbell has been married to Kimberly "Kim" Woollen since 1982. The couple met on a blind date in 1981 when Woollen was a Radio City Music Hall "Rockette". Together, they have three children: Cal, Shannon, and Ashley. All three have joined Campbell on stage since 2010 as part of his touring band. Campbell, who was raised in the Church of Christ, joined a Baptist church in Phoenix along with his wife. In a 2008 interview, they said that they have been adherents of Messianic Judaism for two decades.

Alcohol and drug use

Campbell faced alcoholism and cocaine addiction during his career.

Political views

On The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour television show, Campbell avoided political topics. Around this time, he described himself in interviews as "a registered Democrat but I 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 and 1990s.

Alzheimer's diagnosis

In June 2011, Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six months earlier. According to his family, symptoms of the disease had been occurring for years, becoming more and more evident as the years progressed.

Campbell went on a final "Goodbye Tour", with three of his children joining him in his backup band; his final show was on November 30, 2012, in Napa, California. During the tour's concerts and rehearsals, Campbell would often forget which songs he was supposed to play, repeating them after finishing a performance. He also frequently had to be reminded that he did have the disease, and relied on a teleprompter to remember the lyrics to most songs. Newer songs from his later albums had to be scrapped altogether, as Campbell struggled to remember the chords and lyrics for these. He performed "Rhinestone Cowboy" as a goodbye at the 2012 Grammy Awards ceremony held on February 12, 2012, his final televised on-stage performance.

In April 2014, news reports indicated that Campbell had become a patient at an Alzheimer's long-term care and treatment facility. On March 10, 2015, NBC News reported that Campbell could no longer speak for himself and that two of his children, Debby and Travis, had sought legal action against Campbell's wife Kim, with the assertion that she had "secluded" the singer and prevented them from "participating" in Campbell's medical care.

On March 8, 2016, the Rolling Stone reported that Campbell was living in a Nashville memory care facility and that he was in the "final stages" of his disease. He is now unable to communicate with other people and no longer understands what other people are saying to him. However, his family did assert that the singer was receiving good care receiving "music therapy" and was "happy" and "cheerful" .

Campbell turned 80 on April 22, 2016. On this occasion, Jimmy Webb, with whom Campbell had frequently collaborated, announced he would launch a special edition of his national touring show on May 3, 2016 called "Jimmy Webb: The Glen Campbell Years," at Nashville's City Winery.

Discography and videography

Main articles: Glen Campbell discography and Glen Campbell videos

Since 1962, Campbell has recorded and released 57 studio albums and six live albums. He has 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 has 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 has released 15 video albums and has been featured in 21 music videos. His first two music videos, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Wichita Lineman", 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.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Baby the Rain Must Fall	Band Member (uncredited)
1967	The F.B.I.	Larry Dana	Episode: "Force of Nature"
1967	The Cool Ones	Patrick
1969	True Grit	La Boeuf
1969-72	The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour	Host
1970	Norwood	Norwood Pratt
1976/77/78	American Music Awards	Host
1980	Solid Gold	Co-host	2 episodes
1980	Any Which Way You Can	Singer at Lion Dollar Cowboy Bar
1982	The Glen Campbell Music Show	Host	24 episodes
1986	Uphill All the Way	Capt. Hazeltine
1991	Rock-A-Doodle	Chanticleer (voice)
1997	Players	Jesse Dalton	Episode: "In Concert"
2014	I'll Be Me	Documentary subject

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards

Year	Category	Work	Result
1967	Best Male Country Vocal Performance	"Gentle on My Mind"	Won
	Best Country & Western Recording	"Gentle on My Mind"	Won
	Best Vocal Performance, Male	"By the Time I Get to Phoenix"	Won
	Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male	"By the Time I Get to Phoenix"	Won
1968	Album of the Year	By the Time I Get to Phoenix	Won
	Best Country Vocal Performance, Male	"I Wanna Live"	Nominated
	Best Contemporary-Pop Vocal Performance, Male	"Wichita Lineman"	Nominated
	Record of the Year	"Wichita Lineman"	Nominated
1975	Best Country Vocal Performance, Male	"Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)"	Nominated
	Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male	"Rhinestone Cowboy"	Nominated
	Record of the Year	"Rhinestone Cowboy"	Nominated
1980	Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group	"Dream Lover" (duet with Tanya Tucker)	Nominated
1985	Best Inspirational Performance	No More Night	Nominated
1987	Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Duet	"The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" (with Steve Wariner)	Nominated
	Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Duet	"You Are" (with Emmylou Harris)	Nominated
2000	Grammy Hall of Fame Award	"Wichita Lineman"	Won
2004	Grammy Hall of Fame Award	"By the Time I Get to Phoenix"	Won
2008	Grammy Hall of Fame Award	"Wichita Lineman"	Won
2012	Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award		Won
2014	Best Country Song	"I'm Not Gonna Miss You" (shared with co-writer Julian Raymond)	Won
	Best Song Written for Visual Media	"I'm Not Gonna Miss You"	Nominated

Academy of Country Music

Year	Category	Work	Result
1967	Single of the Year	"Gentle on My Mind"	Won
	Album of the Year	Gentle on My Mind	Won
	Top Male Vocalist		Won
1968	Album of the Year	Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell	Won
	Top Male Vocalist		Won
	TV Personality of the Year		Won
1971	TV Personality of the Year		Won
1975	Single of the Year	"Rhinestone Cowboy"	Won
1998	Pioneer Award		Won
2014	Video of the Year	"I'm Not Gonna Miss You"	Nominated
2016	Career Achievement Award		Won

• American Music Awards
  • 1976: Favorite Pop/Rock Single - "Rhinestone Cowboy"
  • 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
• GMA Dove Awards
  • 1986: Album by a Secular Artist - No More Night
  • 1992: Southern Gospel Recorded Song of the Year - "Where Shadows Never Fall"
  • 2000: Country Album of the Year - A Glen Campbell Christmas
• Other honors
  • 1974: Country Music Association of Great Britain's Entertainer of the Year
  • 2005: Country Music Hall of Fame induction
  • 2007: Musicians Hall of Fame induction (as a member of The Wrecking Crew)
  • 2008: Q Legend Award
  • 2012: Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. Career Achievement Award
  • 2014: HMMA Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2014: Academy Award nomination for "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" (co-writer); sung by Tim McGraw

[ Source: Wikipedia ]