Glen Campbell, Living Music Legend

Glen Campbell has been creating music for almost a half-century. And even though he announced March 2010 his intentions for one last farewell album entitled, "Ghost on the Canvas", his music will undoubtedly live on for another fifty years.

The Early Life of Glen Campbell

Born April 12, 1936, Glen Campbell was born to a sharecropper and raised in Arkansas along with his eleven siblings. Glen exhibited musical talent during his young life, and according the bio page on his website, "Glen's father recognized his talent early and bought his youngster a five-dollar Sears & Roebuck guitar. The child prodigy had conquered the instrument by the time he was 10."

Campbell quit school at sixteen to start a band with his uncle in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and at 24, he became a hot studio guitar-picker in Los Angeles. He was a recording session guitarist for many huge artists, including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Merle Haggard. Glen was part of the musical group, The Champs, who recorded the classic one-word song, "Tequila," and in the mid-sixties, he joined the Beach Boys, until he embarked on his solo career in the early sixties.

Glen Campbell's Dark Side

As it often happens, huge celebrities fall from grace at some point in their careers, and Glen Campbell is no exception. People magazine reported that he, "descended into a hedonistic world of whiskey, cocaine and women." After a publicized affair with Mac Davis' wife, Sarah, whom he eventually married and divorced, his personal life continued to be tabloid fodder because of his May-December relationship with Tanya Tucker and their cocaine habit in the early eighties. Luckily, after meeting his current wife, Kimberly Woollen, in 1981 and marrying her a year later, he seemed to have gotten his life back on track.

However in 2003, Campbell was arrested for DUI and hit-and-run after a driving incident in Phoenix, Arizona, which led to an aggravated assault charge and 10 days in the county jail.

The Music of Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell earned the music industry's attention with his single, "Turn Around Look at me" in 1961, but it was "Gentle on My Mind" that fired up the Glen Campbell brand in 1967. Other huge hits followed in the sixties, such as, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", and "True Grit". His variety show, "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" brought Campbell into America's homes in 1969.

Campbell continued to crank out the hits in the seventies, giving us the legendary "Rhinestone Cowboy" during the disco era in 1975 with "Southern Nights" a few years later. During the nineties, Glen entered the Christian music scene, releasing a series of gospel albums.

Glen Campbell has continued to be active musically, touring on the road at his chosen pace, with periodic appearances in Andy Williams' Moon River theatre in Branson, Missouri. According to his website, Glen's career includes 70 albums and 45 million records with 27 songs reaching a Top Ten spot over his career.

Industry Awards

Glen Campbell's musical talents have earned him millions of loyal fans, and the music industry's respect. He can boast of twelve RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) gold albums, 4 Platinum and 1 Double-Platinum, plus a plethora of music industry awards, including a Grammy for "Gentle on My Mind" in both country and pop music, male vocalist of the Year from the CMA and ACM, and CMA's Entertainer of the Year. In 2005 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and he even received a Golden Globe nomination for his acting performance in True Grit.!

"By the Time I Get to Phoenix"

Glen Campbell has been a resident of Arizona for many years, using several local Arizona musicians in his touring band.

The Around Arizona website reports that Glen built a stately 8,300 square foot home in 1996 which was located in the prestigious Biltmore Estates, where he lived in 2003. The home in the Biltmore was sold for $6.4 Million in 2005, but he still owns a home near Flagstaff, in Arizona's high country known as the White Mountains.

In recognition of his connection to Arizona and for his contribution to Arizona's music scene, Glen was inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2007.

Glen Campbell's Dark Side As it often happens, huge celebrities fall from grace at some point in their careers, and Glen Campbell is no exception. People magazine reported that he, "descended into a hedonistic world of whiskey, cocaine and women." After a publicized affair with Mac Davis' wife, Sarah, whom he eventually married and divorced, his personal life continued to be tabloid fodder because of his May-December relationship with Tanya Tucker and their cocaine habit in the early eighties. Luckily, after meeting his current wife, Kimberly Woollen, in 1981 and marrying her a year later, he seemed to have gotten his life back on track. However in 2003, Campbell was arrested for DUI and hit-and-run after a driving incident in Phoenix, Arizona, which led to an aggravated assault charge and 10 days in the county jail.

Glen Campbell has reveled in the limelight and battled his own demons, becoming one of the living legends of country music. With a lifetime of entertainment that spans music, television and movies, Campbell's decision to ride into the sunset with a farewell album in tow is well earned.

Resources:

Glen Campbell Website

Billboard, "Campbell Enlists Jakob Dylan, Paul Westerberg for Farewell Album"

Around Arizona, "Glen Campbell Sighted in Arizona"

Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame