Campbell, Glen Travis, 1936–2017, American country singer-songwriter, b. Billstown, Ark. A performing musician by age 14, he moved in 1960 to Los Angeles, where he worked in rock and roll bands and as a session musician. In 1967 his “Gentle on My Mind” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” become hit records, followed by “Wichita Lineman” (1968); his biggest hit, “Rhinestone Cowboy” (1975), topped the pop and country charts. He appeared on television shows and hosted his own, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (1969–72), and appeared in several movies, most notably True Grit (1969). He continued to perform and record into the early 2010s, by which time he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. His last albums include See You There (2013) and Adiós (2017).
See his autobiography, Rhinestone Cowboy (1994); biographies by F. Kramer (1970) and D. Campbell (2013); documentary film of his farewell tour (2014).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Music: Popular and Jazz: Biographies
