JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
Glen Campbell, the Rhinestone Cowboy, rides into the Capital City as a part of his Goodbye Tour which benefits Alzheimer's research at U.M.C.
Campbell took the stage at Thalia Mara Hall to a sold out audience.
The Grammy winning country and pop singer drew cheers with the opening number Gentle on My Mind.
The 75 year old was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and all proceeds from the concert will benefit the MIND Center at University Medical Center.
He is raising awareness and money for the Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia Research Center in Jackson.
A $26 million dollar federal grant is funding Alzheimer's research at the facility.
Before the concert, Campbell's son and daughter, who are members of his band, spoke about his illness.
"Sometimes he'll get confused and lose track of the lyrics and he relies heavily on a TelePrompTer, but he still has fun," said 25-year old Ashley Campbell.
"It's not all bad actually because sometimes he doesn't remember the solo that he would always do, but he'll just pull it out somewhere. Like these long forgotten licks that his fingers still remember, but he never would have thought to do before. It's kinda fun you never know what he's going to play," said 27-year-old Shannon Campbell.
"When you look at the number of Alzheimer's cases that are projected in the next 20 years and the next 40 years again with our rapidly aging population we don't have enough dollars in healthcare to deliver the kinds of services that those people are going to need going forward," said MIND Center Director Dr. Tom Mosley.
The MIND Center is leading the study with collaboration from researchers at John Hopkins University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University and The University of Minnesota.
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