Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell (1936–2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Billstown, Arkansas, who grew up in a large sharecropping family with little money but plenty of music. He taught himself guitar as a child and moved to Los Angeles, where his exceptional playing made him one of the most sought-after session musicians of the 1960s, working as part of the loose collective of studio players later known as the Wrecking Crew and briefly touring with the Beach Boys.

As a solo artist Campbell became one of the defining voices of countrypolitan music, the smooth, orchestrated style that brought country songwriting to mainstream pop audiences. His recordings of «Wichita Lineman», «By the Time I Get to Phoenix» and «Galveston», largely built on songs by Jimmy Webb, paired his warm tenor and pristine guitar work with lush string arrangements, while «Rhinestone Cowboy» and «Southern Nights» later carried him to the top of the pop charts.

Campbell also hosted a popular television variety show and appeared in films, helping cement his image as a crossover star equally comfortable in Nashville and Hollywood. Late in life he continued recording and touring even after revealing his diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease, and «I'm Not Gonna Miss You», written for a documentary about that period, became a widely praised farewell statement.