On television and on stage, Glen Campbell was a superstar with boyish good looks, a flashy smile and wit, but it was his last performance on screen that exposed a more vulnerable side that touched many of his fans.
Campbell, one of the most popular entertainers of the 1960s and 1970s and singer of such familiar songs as Rhinestone Cowboy and Wichita Lineman, died on Tuesday at the age of 81, his family said.
He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2011 and rather than retreating, went on a farewell tour that dealt with his illness and decline with the same candor he had addressed his relationship troubles and addiction struggles earlier in his life.
Photo: EPA / LVNB ARCHIVES
His struggles to continue performing and recording after the diagnosis was the subject of an award-winning 2014 documentary called Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me.
The last original song he wrote and recorded for the film, I’m Not Gonna Miss You, won a Grammy for best country song in 2015 and was nominated for an Oscar for best original song.
The film’s soundtrack also won a Grammy last year.
Photo: Reuters
The documentary, which chronicled his 2011-2012 farewell tour, offered a poignant look at his decline from Alzheimer’s while showcasing his virtuoso guitar chops that somehow continued to shine even as his memory unraveled.
His family became his caregivers. His band backed him up on stage when he forgot chords and his fans would finish the song when he forgot the lyrics.
Those involved with the film said he remained happy and upbeat throughout the production, always telling jokes to get a laugh.
“He wanted to tell the story of his Alzheimer’s disease,” said director James Keach, who also directed the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.
“He was told to hang up the guitar and instead he proudly walked out and said: ‘This is who I am. There’s no shame in my game and I am going to go out singing the song.’ That was Glen.”
Caregivers and family members of those with the disease immediately connected to the film that showed him trying to navigate with confusion what once had been familiar places for him, such his home, the stage or the recording studio.
The film is also credited with helping remove some of the stigma associated with the disease.
“Glen was a courageous advocate on behalf of Alzheimer’s, not only bravely sharing his diagnosis with the world, but continuing to bring joy to his fans through his music while facing the disease so publicly,” Alzheimer’s Association president and chief executive officer Harry Johns wrote in a statement. “Glen and his family helped to bring Alzheimer’s out of the shadows and into the spotlight with openness and honesty that has rallied people to take action on behalf of the cause.”
“I had people come up after the film who had family members or themselves had Alzheimer’s who said: ‘I no longer feel ashamed,’” Keach said.
I’m Not Gonna Miss You, which was recorded with members of Phil Spector’s Wrecking Crew band, was based on a comment that Campbell mentioned to his cowriter and producer Julian Raymond when people would bring up his disease.
“He said: ‘It’s not like I am going to miss anybody, anyway,’” Raymond said. “It’s a strange title, but he said it and I know what he was trying to say.”
The lyrics start off: “I’m still here, but yet I’m gone. I don’t play guitar or sing my songs.”
It was a farewell song to the people he loved, but with the message that he would be OK as the disease progressed.
Ashley Campbell, one of his daughters who played in her father’s band and was one of his caregivers, said in an interview in May that her father’s honesty with the illness helped so many families.
“Just because my dad is a celebrity, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the same problems like other families are going through,” Ashley Campbell said. “It was nice to know that we helped people not feel so alone.”
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
For two decades, researchers observed members of the Ngogo chimpanzee group of Kibale National Park in Uganda spend their days eating fruits and leaves, resting, traveling and grooming in their tropical rainforest abode, but this stable community then fractured and descended into years of deadly violence. The researchers are now describing the first clearly documented example of a group of wild chimpanzees splitting into two separate factions, with one launching a series of coordinated attacks against the other. Adult males and infants were targeted, with 28 deaths. “Biting, pounding the victim with their hands, dragging them, kicking them — mostly adult males,
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
SUPERFAN: The Japanese PM played keyboard in a Deep Purple tribute band in middle school and then switched to drums at university, she told the British rock band Legendary British rock band Deep Purple yesterday made Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s day with a brief visit to their high-profile superfan as they returned to the nation they first toured more than half a century ago. Takaichi’s reputation as an amateur drummer, and a fan of hard rock and heavy metal has been well documented, and she has referred to Deep Purple as one of her favorite bands along with the likes of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. “You are my god,” a giddy Takaichi said in English to Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, presenting him with a set of made-in-Japan
RSS