Iconic songwriter Jimmy Webb is 80 years old, but he’s certainly not resting on his laurels. The Grammy-winning tunesmith’s legendary body of work comes alive in a new PBS special, he’s just released a new album — and according to Webb, there’s still more new music on the way.
What Is Jimmy Webb Doing in 2026?
Webb’s career is the subject of a new episode of the PBS series Great Performances titled Jimmy Webb — American Songwriter, which showcases some of his biggest hits and even a few deep cuts from across his 60-year career.
Webb invited a stellar cast of singers including Ryan Shaw, Shelea, Lyle Lovett, Vince Gill and Ashley Campbell to accompany him on a wide-ranging slate of hits that includes “Up Up and Away,” “All I Know,” “Still Within the Sound of My Voice,” “Galveston,” “Highwayman,” “MacArthur Park,” “Adios” and more.
The episode showcases his impact on American popular music, from pop to country music and beyond.
“We really did go for the top people in the game,” Webb tells Taste of Country in a phone interview in advance of the broadcast. “I’ve never done anything like that before, and we just wanted the very best.
“A show called Great Performances should have great performances,” he adds with a hearty laugh. “I think that’s the starting point.”
What Are the Highlights of Great Performances: Jimmy Webb — American Songwriter?
“We were just so happy to have Vince — the maestro of country music — and Lyle Lovett, who’s such a genuine, sweet soul. He poured his all into ‘Galveston.’ I’ve never heard a version of ‘Galveston’ like that before,” Webb tells us.
“He was actually crying. And Glen [Campbell]‘s daughter Ashley … she and I were singing ‘Adios’ at the end, and I felt like Glen was kind of a part of things. His spirit was kind of moving on the stage with us.”
The lush arrangements showcase Webb’s songs beautifully, bringing them to life in new renditions that, in some cases, are better than the original hit records associated with artists including Glen Campbell, The Fifth Dimension, Richard Harris, Donna Summer, Art Garfunkel and more.
“Collectively, as a troupe of performers, we took everything that we were doing very seriously,” Webb imparts. “And there’s an opportunity to kind of create, if you will, a live album, a kind of coalescing of a lot of songs that aren’t always associated with me. People will hear me perform ‘All I Know’ at one my little shows and say, ‘I didn’t know you wrote that.'”
Still, he says, “The truth is that my songs are spread out among so many genres and different artists that I don’t expect people to automatically snap to and say, ‘Oh, that must be Jimmy Webb.’ Because I have enthusiastically put myself in the position of being unidentifiable. I have never wanted to be pegged or put in a box. I have always wanted to move on, create something different, something new, and I may have carried that to extremes.”
Webb points to “MacArthur Park” and “Highwayman” as two songs that are especially difficult to pull off live, adding that he wasn’t especially interested in attempting to replicate the hit records of those songs.
“It’s never been something that I thought was important,” Webb notes. “I always thought that bringing a new perspective, a new point of view to the performance was more important than sounding like the record.”
“Highwayman” is a particular highlight of the set. Webb originally recorded the song, and Glen Campbell also recorded it long before The Highwaymen — consisting of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings — turned it into a standard.
READ MORE: Remember Which Grammy-Winning No. 1 Song Glen Campbell Missed Out On?
Webb performs it with Lovett, Gill and Campbell in his Great Performances episode, drawing one of the biggest ovations of the evening. He acknowledges the song can be inherently difficult.
“What you’re trying to portray is a life that continues past death into another life, and then into another life, and then into a future life. So conceptually, you’re asking the audience to buy a lot of blarney to begin with,” he explains.
“And then the tempo, if it’s set right, it comes at you in the same way that life comes at you, which always seems to be too fast, somehow.”
Though many of Webb’s best songs are suffused with an underlying sense of sadness — “They call me the Blue Dude,” he quips — there’s a joyful quality to the presentation that’s undeniable.
Webb says trying to express how music connects can seem like it’s “off in the land of the ethereal, to some degree. The inexpressible, the unspeakable. But that is kind of what music, in its finest form, is about. It’s a mental telepathy that shoots out over the radio and hits a million people all at the same time, and they all feel the same thing at the same moment. There is something supernatural about the very quality of music.”
Is Jimmy Webb Still Releasing New Music?
Yes.
Webb has just released a new album titled Yours for the Taking: The Found Music of Jimmy Webb. The album consists of older songs that have somehow not found a proper home over the years, now gathered together into one collection.
Webb describes the material as having “most likely, did not receive the attention it deserved, in some cases because the writing needed to be improved a little bit. I have re-written some of them. It almost lets you look into the inner workings of the songwriting process.”
That’s not all. Webb says there’s still new music ahead.
“I have the material to do a solo album, a brand new record of all-new material,” he reveals.
“I still love music, and I still love performers. And God has seen fit to keep most of my wits about me.
“I’m still able to perform, and I’m still able to engage in some repartee with the audience so they don’t feel like they’ve come to see some static antique display,” Webb states.
“I still interact with them, I still laugh with them. I just thank the Lord that He keeps me in a good enough health to carry on like a younger person.”
Great Performances: Jimmy Webb — American Songwriter premieres on PBS on Friday (Oct. 30) at 9PM ET/8PM CT. For more information, visit the PBS website or download the PBS app.
Yours for the Taking: The Found Songs of Jimmy Webb is currently available from Sun Records across a wide variety of digital music providers.
For more information about Webb’s upcoming tour dates, visit his official website.
11 Country Stars + the Last Songs They Cut Before They Died
These late country stars all have one thing in common: They left a musical parting gift for fans before they died.
Scroll through this gallery to listen to the very last songs recorded by 11 artists, and read the stories of their final moments in the studio. Some are haunting, others are full-circle – but each of these songs is special because it bookends an incredible career.
Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak
