Directed by Peter Zavadil and Featuring Daughter Ashley Campbell and Grandson Jeremy Olson
Los Angeles – July 24, 2017 – The video for “Adiós,” the bittersweet Jimmy Webb-penned title track of country legend Glen Campbell’s acclaimed farewell album, will exclusively premiere today, July 24 via CMT where it will be broadcast repeatedly throughout the day on their 24-hour music video channel, CMT Music, and online at CMT.com. It will then go into current rotation. Directed by Peter Zavadil, the award-winning director behind videos for Eric Church, Lady Antebellum and The Black Keys, the video features iconic archival videos and photos of the Rhinestone Cowboy interspersed between the story of his guitar journeying from Nashville to California where it plays its last note. It begins with Glen’s daughter Ashley Campbell handing off the guitar in Nashville and culminates with his grandson Jeremy Olson giving the six string an emotional sendoff. Watch the video on CMT here. The music video is now in current rotation on VEVO here.
“In my view, “Adios” is Glen’s farewell to the spotlight. I wanted the music video to reflect those sentiments,” says Zavadil. “The guitar is a symbol of Glen’s legacy…a ‘spiritual baton’ as it were, carried on by all those influenced by his music, beginning with one of his daughters and ending with one of his grandsons. The fact that no one will ever hold a match to Glen’s skill on the guitar is memorialized by giving his guitar a proper ‘Viking Funeral’ on the California coast. The project truly was an honor and an adventure.”
Glen’s daughter Ashley, who is following her father’s footsteps and performs banjo and sings backing vocals throughout the Adiós album, opens the video by passing off Glen’s guitar and thus starting its last tour. “My father’s music has touched so many people’s lives so I hope that this video will resonate with a lot of people,” says Ashley. “Music moves through us all in different ways, lighting a fire in each of us. That fire will always be burning as music keeps moving and as each of us continues to pass the torch.”
Several generations of the Campbell family are featured in the video as it concludes with Glen’s grandson, Jeremy Olson, in an emotional final goodbye. Olson says: “My grandfather is a man I’ve loved and admired my entire life. The emotion when dealing with a project that is his last, sung his unique way, really hit home and brought back all the amazing memories he and I have shared. This single and album truly encompasses his career and is something I know he would be proud of, which is why I couldn’t be more honored to be involved.”
Glen’s farewell album, Adiós, was released on June 9 via UMe to universal acclaim. In the U.S., the album debuted in the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 giving Glen his 16th Top 40 album and his 19th Top 10 Country Record of his astonishing career. The album, which caps off an extraordinary career that has spanned more than six decades and 50 million albums sold, has been hailed as one of his best. It has received an incredible reaction around the world from the likes of Rolling Stone, USA Today, NPR, Billboard and many others.
Adiós was recorded in 2012 following Glen’s “Goodbye Tour” which he launched after revealing he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. As Glen’s wife of 34 years, Kim Campbell, explains in the album’s touching liner notes, “Glen’s abilities to play, sing and remember songs began to rapidly decline after his diagnosis in 2011. A feeling of urgency grew to get him into the studio once again to capture what magic was left. It was now or never.” She concludes, “What you’re hearing when listening to Adiós is the beautiful and loving culmination of friends and family doing their very best for the man who inspired, raised, and entertained them for decades – giving him the chance to say goodbye to his fans, and put an amazing collection of songs onto the record store shelves.”
Produced by longtime friend and bandmate, Carl Jackson, the 12-track collection features songs from some of his favorite songwriters like Jimmy Webb, his longtime collaborator behind some of his biggest hits like “Wichita Lineman,” “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” and “Galveston.” Other songwriters featured are Willie Nelson, who duets on his classic, “Funny How Time Slips Away,” Bob Dylan, Fred Neil, Roger Miller, Jerry Reed and Dickey Lee.
Campbell who turned 81 in April, is in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease. He lives in Nashville where he is surrounded by his loving family and getting the very best of care.