Glen Campbell died in 2017, and his wife, Kim Campbell, revealed this week that she has written a book about their decades-long relationship. Kim shared the news on Glen’s birthday on Tuesday, April 21, announcing that Gentle On My Mind: In Sickness and in Health with Glen Campbell will be released on June 23.
“As I celebrate Glen’s birthday today, my mind is flooded with memories of our 35 years together,” Kim told PEOPLE in a statement. “To the world, Glen was a star of TV and film a legendary singer and guitarist who sold over 50 million records, earned six Grammys, and brought country music to the mainstream with hits like ‘Rhinestone Cowboy,’ ‘By the Time I Get to Phoenix,’ and ‘Wichita Lineman.’ To me, Glen was my husband, my best friend, and the father of our three children.”
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Glen and Kim married in 1982 and welcomed three children together, Cal, Shannon and Ashley. Glen was also father to five children from three previous marriages. Glen passed away in August 2017 of Alzheimer’s disease at age 81. Kim’s book will detail the couple’s life together, from Glen’s career successes to his addiction to drugs and alcohol and eventual Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and she explained that she hopes the project will give readers a “complete portrait” of the man behind the hit songs and educate people about the challenges of Alzheimer’s.
“He remained humble even though he was one of the best looking and most talented men on the planet, often jesting, ‘I don’t think I’m half as good as I really am,’” Kim said of her husband. “Armed with a sense of humor and strengthened by our faith in God, we weathered the storms of Glen’s battles with alcoholism, drug addiction, and ultimately Alzheimer’s. To celebrate our remarkable life together I am sharing our incredible love story in my new book, Gentle On My Mind: In Sickness and in Health with Glen Campbell.”
In February, Kim honored her husband by opening The Glen Campbell Museum in Nashville, which features a number of artifacts and memorabilia from Glen’s incredibly successful music career and his life outside of music. “I started going through all the memorabilia and realizing what an impact Glen had on so many lives,” Kim told PEOPLE at the time. “It started bringing me some comfort and bringing some purpose out of the horrible time we’d just gone through.”
