Glen Travis Campbell was an American country singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actor.
67 Facts About Glen Campbell
2.
Glen Campbell 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.
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Glen 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.
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In 1967, Glen Campbell won four Grammys in the country and pop categories.
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Three of his early hits later won Grammy Hall of Fame Awards, while Glen Campbell himself won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.
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Glen Campbell owned trophies for Male Vocalist of the Year from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, and took the CMA's top award as 1968 Entertainer of the Year.
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Glen Campbell played a supporting role in the film True Grit, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer.
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Glen Campbell sang the title song, which was nominated for an Academy Award.
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Glen Travis Campbell was born on April 22,1936, in Billstown, a tiny community near Delight in Pike County, Arkansas, to John Wesley Campbell and Carrie Dell Campbell.
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Glen Campbell was of Scottish descent and was the seventh son of 12 children.
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Glen Campbell's family went to the Church of Christ, and Campbell's brother Lindell became a Church of Christ minister.
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Glen 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.
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Glen Campbell continued playing guitar in his youth, with no formal training, and practiced when he was not working in the cotton fields.
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Not satisfied with that kind of work, Glen Campbell started playing music at fairs and church picnics and singing gospel hymns in the church choir.
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Glen Campbell 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.
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Glen Campbell appeared there on his uncle's radio show and on K Circle B Time, the local children's program on KOB television.
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In 1958, Glen Campbell formed his own band, the Western Wranglers.
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Glen Campbell played with all kinds of genres, with different instrumentation and different styles.
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Glen Campbell was a secret weapon in the armory of Sixties record producers.
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In 1960, Glen Campbell moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician.
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Glen Campbell befriended Presley when he helped record the soundtrack for Viva Las Vegas in 1964.
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Glen Campbell formed the Gee Cees with former bandmembers from the Champs, performing at the Crossbow Inn in Van Nuys.
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Glen Campbell never learned to read music, but besides guitar, he could play the banjo, mandolin and bass.
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From December 1964 to early March 1965, Glen Campbell was a touring member of the Beach Boys, filling in for Brian Wilson, playing bass guitar and singing falsetto harmonies.
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Glen Campbell was then replaced on the Beach Boys' tours by new member Bruce Johnston.
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Glen Campbell continued as a session musician, playing guitar on the Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds, among other recordings.
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Glen Campbell and De Lory collaborated again on 1967's "Gentle on My Mind", written by John Hartford, which was an overnight success.
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Glen Campbell won four Grammy Awards for "Gentle on My Mind" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix".
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In 1967, Glen Campbell was the uncredited lead vocalist on "My World Fell Down" by Sagittarius, a studio group.
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In 1968, Glen Campbell released "Wichita Lineman", a song written by Jimmy Webb.
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The 1969 song "True Grit" by composer Elmer Bernstein and lyricist Don Black, and sung by Glen Campbell, who co-starred in the movie, received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Song and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.
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At the height of his popularity, a 1970 biography by Freda Kramer, The Glen Campbell Story, was published.
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Glen Campbell helped launch the careers of Anne Murray and Jerry Reed, who were regulars on his Goodtime Hour program.
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Glen Campbell co-starred in a made-for-television movie, Strange Homecoming, with Robert Culp and up-and-coming teen idol Leif Garrett.
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Glen Campbell hosted a number of television specials, including 1976's Down Home, Down Under with Olivia Newton-John.
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Glen Campbell 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.
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Glen Campbell had heard songwriter Larry Weiss' version while on tour of Australia in 1974.
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The main phrase of Glen Campbell's recording was included in Dickie Goodman's Jaws movie parody song "Mr Jaws".
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In January 1975, Glen Campbell was awarded 4 gold records along with a platinum award for wholesale sales in excess of $1,000,000 in Australia.
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From 1971 to 1983, Glen Campbell was the celebrity host of the Los Angeles Open, an annual professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour.
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Glen Campbell made a cameo appearance in the 1980 Clint Eastwood movie Any Which Way You Can, for which he recorded the title song.
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Glen Campbell gave up smoking in March 1992 and believed it improved his singing voice.
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Glen Campbell appeared on a number of CMT programs, where he ranked among their Greatest Men of Country Music.
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Glen Campbell is credited with giving Alan Jackson his first big break after Jackson recorded with Campbell's music publishing business in the early 1990s.
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Glen Campbell served as an inspiration to Keith Urban, who cites Glen Campbell as a strong influence on his performing career.
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In 2005, Glen Campbell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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Glen Campbell was too ill to travel to Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 2012.
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Glen Campbell's final show was on November 30,2012, in Napa, California.
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In January 2013, Glen Campbell recorded his final song, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You", during what would be his last recording sessions.
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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.
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In March 2016, it was confirmed that Glen Campbell was in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease.
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Glen Campbell was married four times and fathered six sons and three daughters:.
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Glen Campbell began having problems with alcoholism and cocaine addiction in the 1970s.
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Glen Campbell credited his fourth wife Kim with helping him turn his life around.
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Glen Campbell eventually stopped drinking alcohol and taking drugs in 1987.
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Glen 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.
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In June 2011, Glen Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six months earlier.
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Glen Campbell became a patient at an Alzheimer's long-term care and treatment facility in 2014.
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That same year, Campbell was the subject of the documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me, directed by longtime friend James Keach, that examined Campbell's Alzheimer's diagnosis and how it affected his musical performances during his final tour across the United States with his family.
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Glen Campbell died in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 8,2017, at the age of 81.
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Glen Campbell was buried in the Campbell family cemetery in Billstown, Arkansas.
62.
Glen Campbell's 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.
63.
Glen Campbell recorded and released 60 studio albums and six live albums between 1962 and 2017.
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Glen Campbell lent his vocals to four soundtracks for motion pictures: True Grit, Norwood, Rock-a-Doodle, and the 2014 documentary film Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me.
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Glen Campbell placed a total of 82 singles 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.
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Glen Campbell released 15 video albums and featured in 21 music videos.
67.
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.