Picture this: A man pacing the room, his voice booming with anger. That’s exactly what Kim Campbell witnessed as her husband, Glen Campbell, unleashed a tirade, shouting things like, “May my mother rot in hell!” Kim, hiding behind the couch, recorded the entire episode. It was a side of Glen few ever saw — a man grappling with deep personal demons, all while maintaining the image of a beloved entertainer.
A Life in Contrast: The Man Behind the Music
Glen Campbell, with his warm tenor voice and easy charm, was one of the brightest stars of the 1960s. But beneath that polished exterior lay a man caught in the cycle of addiction. Kim Campbell, speaking exclusively to Closer, shares the highs and lows of their 34-year marriage. In her poignant memoir, Gentle on My Mind: In Sickness and in Health With Glen Campbell, she opens up about Glen’s battles with alcoholism and Alzheimer’s, revealing how faith and family helped him transform into a better man.
The Early Days: Love and Red Flags
Kim Campbell recalls their first date in 1981, where Glen’s excessive drinking was an immediate concern. Despite this, Kim saw a different side of Glen when he wasn’t under the influence. “He was generous, kind, funny, smart, and entertaining,” she says. Yet, the alcohol-fueled side of him was a different story. “He never got physical, but he’d get very angry and verbally abusive.” One particularly alarming incident involved Glen pulling a gun on Kim shortly after the birth of their first son. It was a moment that almost ended their relationship.
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The Turning Point: Confronting Addiction
Desperate for change, Kim staged an intervention. She broke Glen’s rule of not discussing his drinking with anyone, enlisting the help of Gene Autry, a hero of Glen’s, to reason with him. She also played recordings of Glen’s drunken outbursts, which helped him realize the man he had become wasn’t the man he wanted to be. “Those little things helped break him out of denial,” Kim explains. Glen achieved sobriety in 1987, finding solace in his newfound faith as a devout Baptist.
Fatherhood and Family: A Second Chance
Glen embraced fatherhood with open arms, attending every T-ball practice and choir recital for their children. Kim reflects on how Glen regretted not spending more time with his children from previous marriages. “He always wanted to make up for lost time,” she says. The family spent joyful days splitting their time between Phoenix and Branson, Missouri, where Glen opened the Glen Campbell Goodtime Theatre in 1994. “We’d go there for seven weeks at a time. I’d take the kids out of school and homeschool them so we always kept our family together,” Kim recalls.
