"I've accomplished everything I wanted to do"

Glen Campbell was one of the most successful country singers of his generation. In a career spanning six decades, he released more than 70 albums and amassed nine Grammy awards. His melodic songs found success in the pop charts with hits including Galveston, Rhinestone Cowboy and Wichita Lineman. And he also made a foray into acting, notably alongside John Wayne in the film True Grit.

Glen Travis Campbell was born in Arkansas, on 22 April 1936, the seventh of 12 children. His father was a sharecropper, a tenant who paid his rent with a proportion of the crops that he grew. His first guitar cost $7 and he whiled away the time teaching 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."

Campbell moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and became a member of a group of musicians named The Wrecking Crew. His big break came in 1967 with the Jimmy Webb song By the Time I Get to Phoenix, which reached number two in the US Country charts. Campbell's partnership with Webb was to be a fruitful one, as hit followed hit. Wichita Lineman went to No 1 in the US. His biggest hit came in 1975 with Rhinestone Cowboy, which reached the Top 10 in a number of countries. There was another smash in 1977, - Southern Nights - but both his career and personal life began to slide. While country aficionados continued to buy his records, his mainstream audience had begun to desert him. He turned to alcohol and drugs for solace. "I got down on my knees and prayed. And, eventually, I got rid of those demons."

In 2011 Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and set off on a farewell tour that included an emotional goodbye at the Grammy Awards in February 2012. "I've accomplished everything I wanted to do," he said in a 2012 interview. "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."