Before country music gave us the likes of Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, and Keith Urban — all hit recording artists and incredible guitarists — there was Glen Campbell. Earlier this year, the 75-year-old Country Music Hall of Fame legend revealed that he’s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and would be launching his farewell tour, underway now. Brad Paisley tells us he had a chance to see Glen perform on the tour, and he’s proud to be part of a musical tribute to Glen at Wednesday night’s 45th Annual CMA Awards. (AUDIO INFO BELOW) 

• 1968’s CMA Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year, Glen Campbell built a remarkable career spanning 27 Top 10 Billboard country chart hits, with five that went to number-one, including “Southern Nights” and his signature “Rhinestone Cowboy,” blockbusters that topped both the country and pop charts.
• He’s sold more than 45 million albums, but if you’re a little to young to remember the music of five-time GRAMMY® winner Glen Campbell, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Some of his hits have become classics, including “Galveston,” “Gentle on My Mind,” “Wichita Lineman,” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.”
• A multi-format entertainer, Glen not only was an acclaimed session musician, perhaps most notably playing on Frank Sinatra‘s “Strangers in the Night” and The Beach Boys‘ Pet Sounds album, he was also an actor who starred alongside John Wayne in True Grit and hosted his own popular CBS variety series, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.
• Learn more about Glen Campbell, find out about dates on his Goodbye Tour, and order his recently released final studio album, Ghost on the Canvas, on Glen’s website at GlenCampbellMusic.com.
• Be sure to tune-in for The 45th Annual CMA Awards, co-hosted by Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, this Wednesday, November 9th, at 8pm, ET, on ABC.  

  Brad Paisley talks about paying tribute to the great Glen Campbell on the CMA Awards show. (1:41)
“Myself, Keith Urban, and Vince Gill are paying tribute to Glen Campbell. Glen is on tour right now on his farewell tour — on the, he’s callin’ it The Goodbye Tour. Glen has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and he’s in the early stages, and so, you can imagine that…that’s one of those diseases that takes a long time to progress, and so you have been given time to go and sort of get your house in order. And one thing that I think is so wonderful is that he is out there playin’ music with this. And I got to see him play a couple of weeks ago. I went to see him in Santa Barbara, and it was unbelievable. The man, he obviously has Alzheimer’s, and there’s things that he can’t remember about certain things, but he doesn’t forget the words because he’s, I mean, he’s nailing these songs that he’s sung for years, and he doesn’t forget how to play the guitar, and he is all over the place, and he’s happy and jovial and telling stories, and you know, it’s amazing to see. And I love the fact that we are paying tribute to him now, you know, while he’s still, you know, fully functioning as a touring act. I mean, the fact that he is still viable, he’s still playing, he’s just released an album — this is the time to tell people we love them and do a big blowout where we sing these songs, not 20 years from now, looking back on whoever, you know, it’s just, this is the time and this is…it’s really…I believe in that. I believe that this is just a tribute to him because of the fact that now is the time to do it.”