This story was published in the April 24 issue of The Glenwood Herald.
The tombstone for Glen Campbell and his wife Kimberly at the family’s cemetery in Billstown. Photos: Michael Hibblen
Wednesday, April 22, would have been Glen Campbell’s 90th birthday. The music legend was born in the unincorporated Pike County community of Billstown and is buried in his family’s cemetery there. But he’s more widely known as a native of the nearby town of Delight where he attended school.
He brought national attention to the town by concluding episodes of his television program “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour,” which ran from 1969 to 1972 on CBS, by saying,“If you’re ever in Delight, Arkansas, come see me.” While he dropped out of school in tenth grade to pursue a music career and left Arkansas, relatives of Campbell still live in the area.
Campbell had a five-decade recording career, first as a session musician, then as a solo artist with a string of hit songs. He released 64 studio albums, selling over 45 million records worldwide. He won multiple Grammy Awards in the country and pop categories, along with other awards and honors. Campbell also acted in several movies, including the 1969 screen adaptation of “True Grit” in which he co-starred with John Wayne.
Glen Travis Campbell was born on April 22, 1936 to John Wesley Campbell and Carrie Dell Campbell. He was the seventh son of 12 children. His father was a sharecropper in Billstown and the family struggled financially while primarily growing cotton. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas notes that many of Glen Campbell’s relatives were musicians and that he developed an early interest in singing and playing. He received his first guitar at the age of 4, began performing in public by age 6, brought his guitar to school while in kindergarten and occasionally played on local radio stations.
He moved with his parents to Houston, Texas, then joined an uncle’s band in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he began performing in nightclubs. He eventually moved to Los Angeles in 1960 where, as people familiar with Campbell’s career know, his incredible guitar playing led to him being an in-demand studio musician backing a diverse group of world-renowned singers. As part of a loose collective of session musicians who became known as “The Wrecking Crew,” he played guitar on many of the biggest hits of the 1960s, ranging from Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” to the Monkee’s “I’m a Believer.”
Campbell finally found success as a singer in 1967 with “Gentle on my Mind,” followed by the even bigger hits “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Wichita Lineman.”
In the subsequent decades he had ups and downs in his personal life, became fodder for the tabloids, but always managed to reemerge to enthusiastic fans. He openly discussed his struggles with alcohol and cocaine, saying he gave up drinking and drugs in 1987. But in 2003 he had a relapse and spent 10 days in an Arizona jail after pleading guilty to charges of aggravated drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
In 2011, Campbell disclosed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, but rather than immediately pull back from public eye, he embarked on “The Goodbye Tour.” He performed around the world, including shows in Little Rock, Fayetteville, Forrest City and Jonesboro. A film crew followed him on that tour and captured the progression of his illness. The documentary “I’ll Be Me” was released in 2014 with the opening scene showing Campbell and his wife Kimberly watching old home movies, but he didn’t recognize himself.
Like his candor years earlier on drug and alcohol abuse, the film is credited with helping to reduce the stigma and shame of a condition that a sizable percentage of people will experience.
Glen Campbell died at a long-term care facility in Nashville, Tenn. on August 8, 2017 at the age of 81. He was laid to rest the following day during a private ceremony in Billstown, returning to the community where his life began.
Visiting Campbell’s grave
Last year I was listening to a podcast on the Beach Boys, which referenced Campbell’s work with the band and that he filled in for Brian Wilson on a tour for about four months after Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown in December 1964. Campbell, who had recorded with the band and was familiar with the material, was quickly brought in to play bass guitar and sing high harmonies. It dawned on me that several times a month I drive relatively close to Billstown, but had never gone through.
On an early Sunday morning, Feb. 2, 2025, after dropping off my daughter in Texarkana, I put the cemetery address of 821 Billstown Road into my phone. It counted down the miles until I started passing tombstones and saw a wooden post with a hanging sign that said “Campbell’s Cemetery.”
I parked and first read a historical marker placed by the state which told the story of Campbell’s life. I then started walking among the many gravestones, most with Campbell as the surname, looking for Glen Campbell. I soon found the one for him and his wife Kimberly, who is still alive, and was looking at the little trinkets that I assume have been left by fans.
The sign for Campbell’s Cemetery at 821 Billston Road near Delight, Arkansas.
A speaker in a tree that plays Campbell’s recording of “Amazing Grace” when activated by a motion sensor.
Then I was a little startled to hear a recording of Campbell singing “Amazing Grace.” Looking around, I saw a speaker in a tree and realized it was likely triggered by a motion sensor. But it was perfect to hear on a solemn Sunday morning while paying my respects to someone whose music has deeply impacted my life.
I shared this story with my friend Mark Keith, co-publisher of the Hope-Prescott News, owner of the Little River Journal and former owner of the Glenwood Herald, and he told me about his visit to the Campbell Cemetery. Being a musician himself and a radio veteran in the area, he said had previously gotten to know several of Glen Campbell’s relatives, including cousin Steve Campbell.
While driving through Billstown several years ago during the pandemic, he realized he hadn’t seen Campbell’s grave and decided to stop. While he knew about the motion sensor that starts “Amazing Grace,” he too was caught off guard when the song began playing. Then he noticed a long white Chevrolet truck was passing the cemetery.
“So it goes down the road and he stops and backs up. And I thought, oh good lord, I’ve upset the Billstown mafia. Well, Steve Campbell gets out, and I’ve known Steve for many, many years. He plays music, has a group, is a very good singer and a very nice guy,” Keith said.
They visited for a little bit, he said, while maintaining social distancing.
“So I was really tickled to see him and I thought that was a great little story to tell everybody about going to Billstown and running into a real live Campbell there.”
Veteran news reporter, editor and manager spanning more than 30 years at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas and hosting a podcast of the same name.
