Glen Travis Campbell was born on April 22, 1936 on a farm between Billstown and Delight, Arkansas. He received his first guitar at the age of 4 and was performing on local radio stations by the time he was 6. He quit school at the age of 14 and went to Albuquerque, where his father's brother-in-law, Dick Bills, had a band and was appearing on both radio and television. At the age of 22, he moved to Los Angeles and 1960 got a job playing with the rock 'n' roll group the Champs. He worked as a session musician for six years. He was a touring member of the Beach Boys from 1964-1965.
He started recording his own music in the 1960s. His hit songs included Wichita Lineman, Gentle on My Mind, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Galveston, and Southern Nights. His albums included Meet Glen Campbell, Ghost on the Canvas, See You There, and Adiós. He received four Grammy Awards in 1968. From 1969 to 1972 he had his own weekly television show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. In 2005, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
He appeared in several movies including True Grit and Norwood. His autobiography, Rhinestone Cowboy, was published in 1994. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011. His last performance was on November 30, 2012. His farewell tour and the way he and his family dealt with the progress of his disease were chronicled in a 2014 documentary entitled Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me. In the spring of 2014, he moved into a long-term care and treatment center. He died from Alzheimer's disease on August 8, 2017 at the age of 81.
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