Probably best known for his signature hit songs “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” Glen Campbell enjoyed a career that spanned six decades – during which he released over seventy albums and gathered nine Grammy awards.
In the process, he became one of music’s most credible artists and true crossover success, fostering a pop and country audience. And today, we’re about to celebrate his life, thriving career, and essential contribution to the genre with some facts about Glen Campbell that you might not know yet. Keep on scrolling below to find out.
1. He’s a native of Billstown, Arkansas.
Born on April 22, 1936, Campbell was the seventh among twelve children of a dirt-poor sharecropper family during the depths of the depression. “We had no electricity,” Campbell said, and money was hard to find. To increase earnings, the family would pick cotton for other farmers.
2. He almost died from drowning.
When he was just three years old, Campbell drowned in the Little Missouri River near his family’s home. His lips turned blue that those who rescued him thought he had died. Campbell marvelously survived after his brother Lyndell resuscitated him.
3. He worked different jobs.
Campbell dropped out of school when he was fourteen and went with his brothers to Houston, where he worked at an insulation installation company and later at a gas station. It was also at this time that he began playing music at fairs and in the church choir. Eventually, he landed a spot at local radio stations.
4. He was once engaged to country star Tanya Tucker.
Campbell had a stormy year-long fling with Tanya Tucker around the time of his 1980 divorce from his third wife. He was older than Tucker by twenty-two years, and their affair was fraught with tabloid gossip. The two were briefly engaged but later ended their short-lived romance. Campbell admitted that he and Tucker were “terrible for each other.”
5. He was an actor, too.
Not only were Glen Campbell songs famous, but as well as the movies he appeared in. He made his film acting debut in the 1967 film The Cool Ones and then had a more popular role in the 1969 movie True Grit, alongside John Wayne.
6. He’s a father to eight children.
The country singer has married four times and fathered three daughters and five sons. His last marriage was to Kimberly Woollen, who he met on a blind date. The couple had three children, who joined Campbell in 2010 as part of his touring band.
7. He had been a devotee of Messianic Judaism.
While Campbell was raised in the Baptist Church of Christ, Campbell revealed in a 2008 interview that he had changed religion.
So, how do you find these facts about Glen Campbell?
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