Born near Delight, Arkansas, in 1936, one of a family of 12, Glen Campbell was always a country boy at heart. His father was a sharecropper farmer who worked the land and tilled the soil. His first guitar cost $7 from a Sears catalogue and he taught himself to play.

“We didn’t have power in the house, but we did have an old battery radio. And whenever I heard a new song, usually on a local country station, I’d learn it,” he said in an interview some years ago.

Glen went on to become a multi-million selling artist, with chart topping songs such as Rhinestone Cowboy, Gentle On My Mind, Wichita Lineman, Galveston, The Everyday Housewife, By The Time I Get To Phoenix and others. A magnificent guitar picker, he also excelled on the bag-pipes, laying claim to his Scottish ancestry. His rendition of Amazing Grace, and playing the bag-pipes on the recording, is sublime.

Rhinestone Cowboy was 40 years old in 2015. The song, written by Larry Weiss, was a massive international success for Glen. Irish audiences loved it and it stayed at the top of the Irish charts for six weeks, the longest by any artist in 1975.

He released more than 70 albums and amassed nine Grammy awards, clocking up estimated sales of around 45 million records.

Gentle On My Mind was composed by the genial John Hartford, while Jimmy Webb composed Galveston, By The Time I Get To Phoenix and Wichita Lineman, and played a central role in the success story of the man from Arkansas.

Glen also featured in some films, notably alongside John Wayne in the great western movie True Grit. Wayne was a huge admirer of Campbell and his music, and invited him to take a role in the movie.

Glen was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2011, it was announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Soon after he undertook an emotional farewell tour that also included some dates here in Ireland, a country close to his heart. 

A documentary film in 2014, I’ll Be Me, showcased his struggles with Alzheimer’s against a backdrop of his long career in music. It received enthusiastic reviews and massive endorsements from moviegoers. It was directed and produced by James Keach, who also produced the award-winning Walk The Line (Johnny Cash) movie, and the inspirational work shone a light on the world of Alzheimer’s.

Among those who appear in the film paying tribute to Glen are Bruce Springsteen, Bill Clinton, The Edge (from U2), Paul McCartney, Jay Leno, Vince Gill, Jimmy Webb (who wrote some of his classic hits), Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton, Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban and Brad Paisley. 

In a 2012 interview, Glen reflected: “I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to do. I’ve been blessed. When I think back to where I came from, I have been able to do some amazing things in my life. And music will always be part of my life.”

Thank you, Glen Campbell, for being such a part of our lives over the decades. You truly were one of the best, a legend in the real sense of the word. CL