Born in Arkansas on This Day in 1936, the Son of a Poor Sharecropper Who Achieved Country Music Stardom in the 1960s and 1970s

Thanks to the work of producers Chet Akins, Owen Bradley, and Billy Sherrill, country music had become a thriving multimillion-dollar industry by the 1960s. However, it remained largely separate from the mainstream until artists like Glen Campbell arrived on scene. In 1969, Campbell became the first country artist ever to win a Grammy Award for Album of the Year with his 1967 LP By the Time I Get to Phoenix. Today, we’re revisiting the storied life and career of the “Rhinestone Cowboy” himself on what would have been his 90th birthday.

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Born April 22, 1936, in Billstown, Arkansas, Glen Travis Campbell grew up picking cotton on the 120-acre farm where his father worked as a sharecropper.

The seventh of 12 children, Campbell’s father bought him a $5 guitar from $5 from Sears, Roebuck when he was just 4 years old. Under the tutelage of his Uncle Boo, he was playing on local radio stations by age 6.

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🔥 Fun Facts • Written by John Hartford • Became one of Campbell’s signature songs • Won multiple Grammy Awards • A defining track in country-pop crossover 🎧 Warm, reflective, classic #music #glencampbell #country #classic #folk

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Glen Campbell Got His Start in Rock and Roll

Having grown tired of “looking at the north-end of a southbound mule,” Glen Campbell dropped out of school at 14. Three years later, he headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico, joining his uncle’s band, Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys.

Sticking with that gig for a few years, he moved to Los Angeles. In 1960, Campbell got a job with the Champs, known for the 1958 hit “Tequila”. Soon, he was a highly sought-after session musician. Joining the famous “Wrecking Crew”, Campbell featured on recordings by the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, the Monkees, Merle Haggard, Elvis Presley, and more.

Signing with Capitol Records in 1962, Campbell stepped in to replace Brian Wilson on the Beach Boys’ tour before his solo career took off. That break came in 1967 with the crossover hit “Gentle On My Mind”. After that, the hits kept coming. Next up was the Grammy-winning “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”. The No. 1 country hit “I Wanna Live” followed. Finally came the timeless “Wichita Lineman”, which cracked the Top 5 on the pop chart in addition to topping the country chart.

Throughout his five-decade career, Glen Campbell released 64 albums that yielded nine No. 1 hits. Those included the yearning “Galveston” (1969) and the Hot 100-topping “Rhinestone Cowboy”.

In June 2011, Campbell revealed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease six months earlier. After wrapping up a 15-month farewell tour, he officially retired from performing in November 2012.

Glen Campbell died on Aug. 8, 2017, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was 81 years old.

Featured image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images