LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Glen Campbell came home this week.

Hundreds of fans hollered and sprang to their feet to welcome the Country Music Hall of Fame member and one of Arkansas’ favorite sons as the opening notes of “Gentle on My Mind” spilled into the theater.

Additional Photos

Glen Campbell performs Sept. 6 during his Goodbye Tour in Little Rock, Ark. The 76-year-old member of the Country Music Hall of Fame is battling Alzheimer’s. The Associated Press

Kristin Chenoweth

Brad Pitt

The lyrics ran away from Campbell toward the end of the song, betraying his battle with Alzheimer’s disease, but no one seemed to mind. The pop icon pulled a couple of lines together and the crowd cheered him on as his Goodbye Tour took him back to his native state.

“Thank you. I am so happy to be here,” the 76-year-old told the crowd. “You know why I’m happy? Cause I’m in Arkansas.”

Long before Campbell rose to fame as a singer and guitar player, he was a young dreamer born near a tiny town in southwest Arkansas called Delight.

After last year’s announcement that he had been diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease, his latest trip home was largely kept quiet.

“People flooded him” on past visits, Delight Mayor Paul Lane said. “And I’m sure they would still do it today … but it’s kept pretty much a secret because of the Alzheimer’s.”

Asked about his recent trip to Delight, Campbell looked at his wife, Kim, and asked, “Did we go to Delight last night?”

She held his arm and nudged him along.

“He has better days than others,” she said later.

Yet, even on a bad day, the man can still work a crowd. Dressed in a gem-encrusted salmon shirt, the singer known for such hits as “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Wichita Lineman” and “Southern Nights” held the mic out to the audience and had them fill in some of the blanks.

His 25-year-old daughter, Ashley, kept a watchful eye on him as she played keyboards.

She interrupted him as he meandered through a story about John Wayne.

“Hey dad,” she said.

“Yes, darling?” he asked.

“It’s capo one,” she said before helping him clip the capo on the guitar’s neck.

Campbell showed grace as he launched into the next song.

Backstage, his wife watched him as she stood in the shadows.

“He has never, ever noticed me standing there,” she said after the show. “So maybe it’s just dark to him.”

Campbell is scheduled to play Oct. 16 at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland, Maine.

Chenoweth describes on-set accident

NEW YORK – Kristin Chenoweth said she’s still on the mend after suffering injuries in July while filming the CBS legal drama “The Good Wife.”

Appearing on “Live! With Kelly & Michael” on Friday, the actress offered details of the accident, which happened during a New York location shoot.

An overhead lighting rig collapsed, she said, striking her in the face, slamming her to the ground and knocking her out. When she woke up, co-star Josh Charles was holding her hand.

Said Chenoweth: “He’s my angel.”

Chenoweth, 44, was forced to withdraw from her recurring role on “The Good Wife,” but she’ll appear on its Sept. 30 season premiere.

Pitt, family enjoy U.K. this summer

LONDON – Britain has become Brad Pitt’s second home.

The actor said at an intimate London gala for his new movie, “Killing Them Softly,” that he and his family have enjoyed all the UK has to offer this summer.

“We’ve been having an amazing summer here,” Pit said Thursday night. “We started with the Euro cup, Wimbledon, the Olympics, Murray and the Paralympics, it’s been a really exciting time to be here.”

Pitt was attending a low-key hotel showing of “Killing Them Softly,” in which he plays a guy sent to track down two petty criminals. The mob thriller is directed by Andrew Dominik.

“Killing Them Softly” opens in the UK Sept. 21.

– From news service reports

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