I can recall recently stumbling upon a YouTube video of Glen Campbell and Tanya Tucker from 1980 singing the Bobby Darin 1959 classic, "Dream Lover." They put a country sheen on the song, which was riveting to hear and to watch. Whereas Darin rendered it like a nightclub crooner, Campbell and Tucker sizzled together. And no wonder. Off stage, they were having a tempestuous, fodder-for-the-tabloids relationship.
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Sparks Flew When They Sang "Dream Lover"
He was 22 years her senior. They were both allegedly in the throes of substance abuse. And the public, along with the press, could not get enough of these two. Much later, when the dust had settled, Campbell talked and wrote about his affair with Tucker using casually dismissive language, calling his time with her "my insanity." She saw it far differently. It seems like the "Galveston" singer was indeed the love of her life.
Glen Campbell Shared His Thoughts On Tanya Tucker With Larry King
When Campbell was in the hot seat being interviewed on Larry King's show in 2002, King mentioned Tanya Tucker. Campbell's tone was emotionless. Matter-of-fact. Nearly offhanded.
Campbell said, 'I wouldn't say [I was] madly in love [with Tanya]. She was there at the time Sarah and I broke up.{Sarah Barg Davis was Campbell's third wife. They split in 1980.] It was just one of those things that happened...We were definitely not made for each other. It just didn't work."
He Bluntly Addressed His Affair With Tucker In His Autobiography
Campbell wrote about Tucker in his 1994 book, Rhinestone Cowboy. Per glencampbellforums.com via that autobio, he wrote, "I don't think folks would have much respect for me or my credibility if I hadn't addressed my insanity with Tanya [in the book]...I'm inclined to pray for the woman with whom I shared a poisoned relationship. I have since found another love that offers not the threat of death but the promise of eternal life."
He was referring to his fourth and last wife, Kimberly Woolen. He was married to her from 1982 until his death in 2017.
Tucker Seemingly Never Stopped Carrying A Torch For Campbell
Tanya Tucker, now 66, was always upfront about her strong feelings for Campbell, even decades later. Per Wide Open Country, she shared, "I will have to say that I was very young, and knew how to push the buttons and I thought there was more fish in the sea. But looking back, I think sometimes you get the love of your life when you're too young and you don't know how to handle it. So I think that was me. I was trying to help him get off drugs, and when I was trying to help him, I got off."
She added, "Time just exposed the fact that he was my true love. He was the love of my life... If I had made a different choice, things might have turned out differently. And we probably would have still been together. [But] I was too young."
She Wrote An Affectionate Song About Campbell After He Died
When Campbell died of Alzheimer's disease at age 81, Tucker released a song about him - "Forever Loving You." Her intent was ultra clear with lyrics like, "I never stopped loving you / Even after all these years / I still feel you next to me / At night. when you're not here...."
The track coming out when it did, plus Tucker's promotion of it, evidently did not sit well with Campbell's widow, Kim. According to TMZ, "Tanya's Today performance is what sent Kim through the roof, when the hosts expressed their sympathy to Tucker and not the grieving widow and 3 kids Glen left behind."
Tucker's "camp" reportedly claimed that she was just elevating people's awareness of Alzheimer's.
