Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell (1936-2017) was one of the most gifted guitarists in American music history before he became a country pop star. As a member of the Wrecking Crew — the elite Los Angeles session musician collective — he played guitar on records by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, Bobby Darin, Nat King Cole, and hundreds of others. His solo career produced Wichita Lineman (1968), Galveston (1969), Rhinestone Cowboy (1975), and Southern Nights (1977). Campbell played an Ovation guitar for most of his live career, and his technical fluency on electric guitar — particularly his picking speed and accuracy — was extraordinary even among elite session players. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011 and made a farewell album and tour, documented in the film I'll Be Me (2014), before his death in 2017.