LOS ANGELES — Glen Campbell’s career didn’t end when he revealed he had Alzheimer’s disease in 2011. He went on to record an album, play more than 150 concerts to promote it, star in a documentary about life with Alzheimer’s and win awards for its leading song.

Now 78 and in the late stages of the disease, Campbell’s wife will attend Sunday’s Academy Awards in his stead. Tim McGraw is set to perform Campbell’s nominated song, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” which won a Grammy earlier this month.

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Glen Campell is shown with his wife, Kim, in 2011, when he toured the world despite early Alzheimer’s. The Associated Press

“He’s such a great singer and Glen always loved him,” Campbell’s wife, Kim Campbell, said of McGraw. “It’s going to be an emotional night to hear it performed.”

Campbell’s nomination is one of two Academy nods related to Alzheimer’s this year. Julianne Moore is favored to win the best actress award for her portrayal of an early-onset Alzheimer’s patient in “Still Alice.”

Campbell’s nominated song plays at the conclusion of the documentary, “Glen Campbell… I’ll Be Me.”

Married for 32 years, Kim Campbell appears often in the film, which follows the couple as the entertainer performs around the world in 2011 after announcing his Alzheimer’s diagnosis. His wife worried about how fans would respond.

“Maybe fans are not going to want to come see somebody play who has Alzheimer’s,” she feared. “They may not want to remember Glen that way. They might think it’s too depressing.”

But the opposite happened. The shows sold out and Campbell shone. Though his memory was fading, his music was intact.

But his condition has since declined. He can no longer communicate, nor understand spoken words.

—From news service reports

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