Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell

Photo: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

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Country Legend Glen Campbell Dies At Age 81

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The legendary Rhinestone Cowboy, winner of six GRAMMY Awards, succumbs to complications from Alzheimer's disease
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Aug 8, 2017 - 3:31 pm
GRAMMY.com

Six-time GRAMMY winner and country singer/songwriter Glen Campbell died Aug. 8 from complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 81.

Born 1936 in Billstown, Ark., Campbell first learned to sing harmony at the family's church and learned to play guitar from a young age. By 1960, Campbell headed for Los Angeles where he found success as a session musician. He joined the Champs — of "Tequila" fame — and found a day job writing songs and creating demos.

These demos led him to become a sought-after session guitarist, playing with the famous Wrecking Crew band, which played on numerous hits for artists such as Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Elvis Presley.

After recording modest hits as a solo artist such as 1961's "Turn Around, Look At Me" and 1962's "Too Late To Worry, Too Blue To Cry," Campbell joined the Beach Boys' tour in place of Brian Wilson from 1964 to 1965. He made his first TV appearances the same year, starring as a performer in the series "Shindig!"

Campbell hit his stride in 1967 with the classic tracks "Gentle On My Mind" and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix." He won a pair of GRAMMYs for each recording, giving him four awards at the 10th GRAMMY Awards. Campbell's By The Time I Get To Phoenix album earned Album Of The Year for 1968. Wichita Lineman, also released in 1968, reached No.1 on the Billboard 200, his lone chart-topping album.

Glen Campbell

Campbell's profile increased when he starred alongside John Wayne and Kim Darby in 1969's gritty Texas film True Grit. He also hosted "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour," a variety show that aired from 1969 to 1972.

He remained active, recording more than 70 albums over the course of his career with unforgettable tracks such as "Let It Be Me," "All I Have To Do Is Dream," "Galveston," "It's Only Make Believe," and 1975's No. 1 hit, "Rhinestone Cowboy."

In 2012 Campbell was awarded The Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to the field of recording. He earned his last GRAMMY in 2014 for Best Country Song for "I'm Not Gonna Miss You." Three of his classic recordings are enshrined in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame: By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Gentle On My Mind and "Wichita Lineman."

"Glen Campbell was, and always will be, an American treasure," said Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow. "We have lost an icon who will be greatly missed, but Glen's musical gifts will live on forever."

Watch Glen Campbell's Moving Lifetime Achievement Award Speech

Ashley Campbell holds a banjo

Ashley Campbell

Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

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Ashley Campbell Pens Letter To Father Glen Campbell

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Heartfelt letter reveals the song that will always connect the country singer with her late father
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Aug 11, 2017 - 3:35 pm
GRAMMY.com

The youngest of eight children, Glen Campbell's daughter Ashley Campbell has handwritten a heartfelt letter of remembrance in honor of her father, who died Aug. 15 at the age of 81.

"Many of you know my father, Glen Campbell, as the guitar player, singer and international icon that he was," she writes. "Some of you may know him as the wonderful man and friend he was to so many people. I had the privilege of knowing Glen Campbell as a father."

She goes on to detail how music allowed her to connect with her father through the "fog" of Alzheimer's disease. A singer/songwriter in her own right, she co-wrote "Remembering" with Kai Welch, which chronicles her relationship with her father. The song premiered in the documentary of Glen's battle with Alzheimer's and his Goodbye tour, Glen Campbell … I'll Be Me, which earned a GRAMMY for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media.

Ashely concludes that music, and "Remembering" especially, remain how she feels connected to her late father.

"Now, after he has passed, when I sing this song, I feel like he is reaching back for me as I reached for him. I can feel him with me in the music and he is comforting me now."

Music Community Pays Tribute To Glen Campbell

George Avakian photographed in 2009

George Avakian

Photo: Brian To/FilmMagic

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George Avakian: Producer, Talent Scout & Past Academy Chair Dies

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Trustees Award recipient who played a role in the careers of Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck and Bob Newhart has died at age 98
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Nov 22, 2017 - 8:01 pm

Esteemed record producer, talent scout, manager, and past Recording Academy Chairman/President George Avakian has died, according to The New York Times. While no cause of death was given, the news was confirmed by his daughter, Anahid Avakian Gregg. He was 98 years old.

Born in Armavir, Russia, Avakian immigrated with his family to the United States as an infant. Growing up an avid jazz fan, he was already a published jazz critic by the time he was a sophomore at Yale University.

Avakian's career as a producer and talent scout began in 1939 when he convinced Decca Records to let him record prominent jazz musicians on the Chicago scene, which became a six-set of recordings titled Chicago Jazz. According to critics and historians, this is considered as the first jazz album.

Throughout his storied eight-decade-plus career with labels such as Decca, Columbia Records, Warner Bros. Records, RCA Records, and Sony Legacy, Avakian worked with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Dave Brubeck, Sonny Rollins, Bob Newhart, Johnny Mathis, John Cage, and Ravi Shankar, among other music legends. 

In the process, he helped cultivate influential recordings such as Armstrong's Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (1954), Ellington's Ellington At Newport (1956), Brubeck's Brubeck Plays Brubeck (1956), and Davis' Miles Ahead (1957), and Rollins' On The Outside (1966).

Also heralded for popularizing liner notes, he earned one career GRAMMY at the 39th GRAMMY Awards for Best Album Notes for The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings by Davis and Gil Evans. He was honored with the Recording Academy's Trustees Award in 2009 for his outstanding contributions to the music industry during his lifetime. 

A great friend to the Academy, Avakian served as the seventh Chairman/President of the organization from 1966–1967. 

"In a career spanning more than 40 years, George achieved several notable milestones including popularizing liner notes, helping establish long-playing albums as the industry standard, and developing the first jazz reissue series," said Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow. "We have lost an integral member of our creative community. Our condolences go out to George's family, friends, and fellow collaborators."

Recording Academy Remembers Fats Domino

The Miracles

The Miracles

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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Warren "Pete" Moore, Founding Member Of The Miracles, Dies

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Original member of the hit Motown group fronted by Smokey Robinson dies at age 78
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Nov 20, 2017 - 2:47 pm

Warren "Pete" Moore, one of the original members of the hit Motown group the Miracles fronted by Smokey Robinson, died Nov. 19. The news was confirmed by Motown's Berry Gordy, but no cause of death was given. He was 78 years old.

Moore met Robinson as a child growing up in Detroit where the two formed a singing group called the Five Chimes — later renamed the Matadors — before ultimately signing with Gordy in 1959. The group was soon rebranded the Miracles. Moore served with the Miracles until their dissolution in 1978.

Not only did he provide the bass foundation of the Miracles' vocal blend, Moore co-wrote many Miracles hits, including "The Tracks Of My Tears," "Ooo Baby Baby," "My Girl Has Gone," and "Love Machine." He also wrote hits for other artists on the Motown roster such as GRAMMY winners Marvin Gaye ("Ain't That Peculiar") and the Temptations ("Since I Lost My Baby").

Moore earned a GRAMMY nomination for 1967 as a member of the Miracles for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental for "I Second That Emotion." The unforgettable quartet also has four recordings in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame: "Shop Around," "The Tears Of A Clown," "The Tracks Of My Tears," and "You've Really Got A Hold On Me."

The Miracles were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

"I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Warren 'Pete' Moore, a fine human being and valued member of the Motown family," Gordy said. "Pete was an original member of my very first group, the Miracles. He was a quiet spirit with a wonderful Bass voice behind Smokey Robinson's soft, distinctive lead vocals and was co-writer on several of the Miracles hits."

Recording Academy Remembers Fats Domino

 

Mel Tillis photographed in 2011

Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images

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Mel Tillis, Legendary Country Singer/Songwriter, Dies

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Songwriter who wrote hits for Kenny Rogers, Tom Jones and Brenda Lee dies at age 85
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Nov 20, 2017 - 7:59 am

Mel Tillis, one of the more prolific singer/songwriters in country music history, died Nov. 19 following a battle with intestinal issues. He was 85 years old.

With a catalog of more than 1,000 songs, Tillis released more than 60 LPs over his six-decade-plus career. In the 1970s, Tillis hit a stride with a string of country chart smashes, including "Good Woman Blues," "Heart Healer" and "Coca Cola Cowboy." 

In addition to his successful solo career, Tillis wrote a variety of hits for artists such as Brenda Lee ("Emotions"), Webb Pierce ("I'm Tired"), Kenny Rogers ("Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town"), Charley Pride ("The Snakes Crawl At Night"), George Strait ("Thoughts Of A Fool"), Ricky Skaggs ("Honey, Open That Door"), and Tom Jones ("Detroit City"), among others.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss recorded Tillis' "Stick With Me Baby" for their T Bone Burnett-produced Raising Sand, which won Album Of The Year at the 51st GRAMMY Awards.

In 2007 he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Tillis was awarded a National Medal of Arts in 2011 by President Barack Obama.

Recording Academy Remembers Tom Petty