According to Glen Campbell’s wife Kim, Alzheimer’s disease is taking its toll on the star’s body. In fact, he’s no longer able to play the guitar. She does say, however, that he seems to be keeping the spirit of music alive in his heart.
Recently, Kim Campbell told The Tennessean that the country music star still attempts to sing from time to time. He even breaks into an air guitar routine on occasion. While the words to his new songs don’t make sense, Kim says he appears to still find happiness in singing.
“It’s not a melody that we recognize,” she said, “but you can tell that it’s a happy song, and he has a song in his heart.”
Glen Campbell was first diagnosed with the disease in 2011. However, the first signs of memory problems started appearing as early as 2009. Immediately following his diagnosis, he went on a final world tour to say goodbye to his friends and fans. Today, he lives in an Alzheimer’s facility in Nashville. His loving wife of 34 years has stood by his side the entire time.
Glen Campbell is famous for hit songs “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Galveston,” “Wichita Lineman” and many others. Before he completely lost his memory, Campbell wrote a beautiful song titled “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” which is basically his response to the disease he is inflicted with. It was a song he co-wrote with Julian Raymond in 2014 for a documentary about his illness. It was later nominated for an Academy Award.
You can watch him perform it in this video.
https://youtu.be/U8TsAh-zYFI
One thing’s for sure, we won’t ever have another Rhinestone Cowboy. Glen Campbell has done a lot for the world of country music, and it’s sad to see his career come to an end in this manner. Luckily, we will forever have the music that made him famous, and we will never forget his wonderful personality.
