Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Glencampbell dead aged 81
RHINESTONE Cowboy singer Glen Campbell has died aged 81 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
The country legend died yesterday morning in a specialist unit in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was being cared for.
During a career spanning six decades, Campbell sold over 45 million records. In 1968, one of his biggest years, he sold more than the Beatles.
He once said: “Some people have said that I can ‘hear’ a hit song, meaning that I can tell the first time a song is played for me if it has potential.
“I have been able to hear some of the hits that way, but I can also ‘feel’ one.”
He released more than 70 albums, with hits including Gentle on My Mind, Wichita Lineman and Country Boy.
He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and won 10 Grammy Awards plus 10 Academy of Country Music Awards.
Born in April 1936 in Billstown, Arkansas, he worked as a studio musician during the early 1960s and played on recordings by Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, The Monkees, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
He toured as a member of The Beach Boys, filling in for Brian Wilson from late 1964 to March 1965.
He also acted in films including 1969’s True Grit and 1970’s Norwood.
Campbell finally hung up his guitar after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in June 2011.
He moved to a memorycare unit where wife of 35 years Kim Woolen visited daily. She said in 2015: “He still has the same essence... he’s still an entertainer.”
He leaves daughters Ashley, Debbie and Kelli and sons Cal, Dylan, Kane, Shannon and Travis.