SINGER GLEN CAMPBELL, who had dozens of hit singles such as Rhinestone Cowboy and Wichita Lineman, has died aged 81.
Campbell’s family said the singer died this morning in Nashville, but no cause of death has been given.
In June 2011, the singer announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and that it was in its early stages at the time.
Tributes have been pouring in for the performer, with country singer Dolly Parton stating that Campbell was “one of the greatest voices there ever was in the business”.
“He was one of the greatest musicians,” she said in a video statement.
“He was a wonderful session musician as well. A lot of people don’t realise that. But he could play anything and he could play it really well,” she said.
One of Campbell’s daughters, Ashley, said she was heartbroken over his death.
“I owe him everything I am, and everything I ever will be. He will be remembered so well and with so much love,” she wrote on Twitter.
Campbell rose to fame in the late 1960s, selling more than 45 million records, and winning five Grammy Awards.
While the singer has had more than 75 chart hits, he is best known for his songs Rhinestone Cowboy and Southern Nights.
He released more than 70 albums, and in the 1990s recorded a series of gospel CDs.
A 2011 farewell album, Ghost On the Canvas, included contributions from Jacob Dylan, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick and Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins.
The documentary Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me came out in 2014. The film about Campbell’s 2011-12 farewell tour offers a poignant look at his decline from Alzheimer’s.
Campbell was married four times and had eight children.
He is survived by his wife, Kim, their three children, Cal, Shannon and Ashley, as well as his children from previous marriages, Debby, Kelli, Travis, Kane and Dillon. He had ten grandchildren.
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