GLEN CAMPBELL
Tanya Tucker writes exclusively for Closer about her life with the country legend.
THE COUNTRY QUEEN REMEMBERS HER THRILLING, THREE-YEAR LOVE
AFFAIR WITH GLEN — AND WONDERS WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN “Our love was like a rocket. We didn’t stop. It was like Bogie and Bacall — that kind of thing.”
— Tanya Tucker
When I got the call that Glen had died, I thought, “This must be a hoax.” There had been a few. After I found out it was true, I cried my eyes out. I just felt crushed, like I couldn’t breathe. All these memories started rushing back to me of all the things we did together. It was just heartbreaking.
I first met Glen when I was 15 in the mid’70s at the CMA Awards, then again a few years later in Las Vegas at the Desert Inn. I was doing a TV show there, and my girlfriends and I went to see Glen’s show. We loved him so much, we went back the next night. Glen and I talked both nights.
We met at a time when he didn’t have his life together — he was coming out of a marriage and had a child. He was like a walking mummy; he was very ill. My mother and I would go to his house and make him potato soup. When he got well, our relationship got strong, and we started hanging out and writing songs and fell in love.
We had a great run for three years. With us, three years is like 45 years for somebody else. We did a lot of traveling — he took me to Europe. We kissed under the Eiffel Tower. Glen always said if you kiss under the Eiffel Tower, you get to come back 20 years later with the same person. We had some of the best times, and those are the memories I hang on to now.
DREAM LOVERS
Glen and I were cut from the same cloth — he came from meager beginnings in Arkansas. We understood each other. Glen grew up much poorer than I, but he was one of the most giving people to those he loved. We visited my grandmother in Texas once, and the next day, he bought her everything she needed. I was really attracted to that.
He was very romantic. We loved to ballroom dance to Sinatra music. We flew to a golf resort in Scotland and landed our helicopter on the front lawn of a castle. That night we had dinner with Sean Connery and his wife, and he taught me how to eat caviar!
Music was a big part of our relationship. We did a duet, “Dream Lover,” on one of my records.
He could do things so easily, in one take. I couldn’t believe some notes he could hit. He was my biggest fan, and I was his.
He taught me so much. Singing songs straight — he said not to keep doing all these vocal acrobatics, people just want to hear the song. Do it like the record, don’t mess around with it. I saw many of his shows, and it never got old to me. He taught me, no matter how difficult things are, you go out and overcome it and sing through it. And don’t leave the top off a Sharpie — it will dry out!
When we were together, Glen had a lot of living under his belt, and I was just starting out. He asked me many times to marry him. He asked my dad for my hand in marriage; he was very oldfashioned. We just didn’t get around to it. I was 23 and he was 45. I thought I had my whole life ahead of me and there were lots of fish in the sea. Glen wasn’t afraid of jumping off in the deep end, and I just never could take that step.
I ended it because I was immature and impatient. I was so young, I didn’t realize what I had, and if I had known I wouldn’t find anybody I loved more than him, I probably would’ve stuck it out. I guess God has his plan, and this was his for me. There will never be a truer love for me than Glen was. That’s why I’ve never married.
We weren’t friends after we split. I was in Phoenix the day he got married. It was hard. I spent the day with some of his friends, and I cried in my beer. I really felt a loss.
Sometimes I think of what could’ve been, and I have regrets, but it is what it is. I tell my kids now, if you love somebody, don’t pick up and leave them. I said I’d always love Glen, and forever ain’t over. I’ll never get over him.
It gave me closure to come back to Arkansas and visit his grave site with his family. You knew the end was going to come, but when it finally did, it’s just really hard.
Glen’s free now. He’s in a beautiful place. He’s home, back where he started and surrounded by the people who really care for him and love him. I feel at home, too. It’s a wonderful thing.