STOCKTON - Glen Campbell’s Good-Bye Tour is stopping Thursday, June 21, at the Bob Hope Theatre.

The evening’s special guest performer will be Instant People.

Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com or www.stocktonarena.com

Becoming a bonafide living legend isn’t as easy as Campbell makes it look. First, you have to have a solid foundation of talent on which to build — like being one of the hottest guitar players in the world. Then you have to record songs that will stand the test of time — standards such as “By The Time I Get to Phoeniz” and “The Witchita Lineman.” And of course, to be a “living” legend, you need to survive the harsh reality of a celebrity lifestyle.

It certainly doesn’t hurt to have a witty, bantering stage style that draws fans like college students to Daytona Beach, or a hit television show viewed by 50 million people every week for three years.

When you put it all together, the result is a career that spans fifty-plus years and fans that cross generational and international lines. In other words: Glen Campbell.

Campbell continues to perform live shows both in the U.S. and internationally. Not only do Campbells special appearances draw sold-out crowds around the world, but he’s still a hot draw on television as well. In 2000, PBS aired a Glen Campbell Special taped in Sioux Falls, SD, and he’s been profiled on A&E’s Biography, VH-1 Behind The Scenes, and CMT’s Inside Fame.

Besides having one of the most successful variety shows in television history, Campbell will be remembered as one of the best guitarists of his generation. His musicianship has inspired many of today’s most renowned pickers, including Alan Jackson and Steve Wariner, and lives on in the tracks of the most legendary collections of the 20th century. His enormous success as a crossover artist also paved the way for hitmakers such as Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton to break genre barriers. In addition, Glen was one of the first country artists to forge a path into Hollywood’s studio back lots. His portrayal of John Wayne’s young sidekick in the classic True Grit will be viewed by generations to come.

Campbell’s tremendous impact on the artistic scene was an unlikely outcome for a sharecropper’s son, one of 12 children raised in rural Billstown, Arkansas. But Campbell’s father recognized his talent early and bought his youngster a five-dollar Sears & Roebuck guitar. The child prodigy had conquered the instrument by the time he was 10. At 16, Campbell left school to pursue music full time. He started in a three-piece combo with his uncle, Dick Bills, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but was soon touring the Southwest fronting his own band.

In 1961, the 24-year-old musician hit the Los Angeles studio scene like a blast of fresh air. Campbell quickly became a sought-after studio picker, his talents enriching records by such artists as Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Merle Haggard, Elvis Presley, Jan & Dean and the Righteous Brothers.

Campbell had released a single, “Turn Around Look At Me,” on a regional label in 1961 that cracked the charts and got the attention of Capitol Records. His first album for Capitol, Big Bluegrass Special, was recorded under the name The Green River Boys Featuring Glen Campbell. The debut collection yielded one Top 20 hit, “Kentucky Means Paradise,” and Glen continued to record for the label. Then, in 1967, “Gentle On My Mind” broke the world open like an oyster for Campbell.

The single initially only made it to #30 in Billboard. More than a year later, however — after Campbell had become a crossover sensation with “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” “I Wanna Live” and “The Dreams Of The Everyday Housewife” — “Gentle On My Mind” made an incredible second chart climb. His success continued with the late 1968 release of “Wichita Lineman,” which hit #1 country and #3 on the pop charts. “Galveston” revisited that crossover success in early 1969.