View source for Jimmy Webb

==Personal life==
In 1967 Webb wrote "MacArthur Park"; the inspiration for the song was his relationship and breakup with Susie Horton. The breakup was also the primary influence for his 1965 composition "By the Time I Get to Phoenix".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-socal10jun10-story.html|title='MacArthur Park' Jimmy Webb &#124; 1968|first=Geoff|last=Boucher|date=June 10, 2007|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

Webb married [[model (person)|cover girl]]<ref name="auto1"/> Patricia "Patsy" Sullivan, the mother of his 17-month-old son Christiaan, in 1974. The youngest child of screen actor [[Barry Sullivan (American actor)|Barry Sullivan]] and Swedish actress and model [[Gita Hall]], Sullivan was 12 years old and Webb was 22 when they met on a photo shoot for the cover of ''[[Teen Magazine]]'' in 1968.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Up Up & Away's Jimmy Webb: Boy Millionaire Meets Teen Beauty |journal=Teen Magazine |date=November 1969 |volume=12 |issue=11 |page=5 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_teen_1968-11_12_11/mode/2up |access-date=June 12, 2023}}</ref> Webb became romantically involved with Sullivan, the face of [[Yardley London|Yardley Cosmetics]], a year later. She gave birth to their son Christiaan, the first of their six children, when she was 16 years old.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jimmy Webb left ex-teenage wife out of memoir, says report |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jimmy-webb-left-ex-teenage-wife-out-of-memoir-says-report |website=Fox News |date=May 18, 2017 |access-date=June 12, 2023}}</ref> They married on July 13, 1974, in a wedding held at [[Jim Messina (musician)|Jim Messina]]'s [[Ojai, California]], ranch. Musicians who attended the wedding included [[Joe Cocker]], [[Kenny Loggins]], [[Joni Mitchell]], [[Harry Nilsson]], and [[Ike Turner]], plus actors [[Beau Bridges]], [[Lynda Carter]], [[Andrew Prine]], [[Jessica Walter]], and [[Jack Warden]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Jimmy Webb & Patsy Sullivan Wedding - 13 Jul 1974 |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/guests-attend-the-wedding-of-songwriter-jimmy-webb-and-news-photo/1469226106 |website=gettyimages.com |date=February 24, 2023 |publisher=Getty Images |access-date=June 12, 2023}}</ref> They were divorced in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.houmatoday.com/story/news/2010/09/25/jimmy-webb-im-back-to-being-a-troubadour/26938378007/|title=Jimmy Webb: 'I'm back to being a troubadour'|website=The Courier}}</ref>

Two sons, Christiaan and Justin, formed a rock band, [[the Webb Brothers]]. Their brother, James, later joined the band. Webb collaborated with his sons on the album ''[[Cottonwood Farm]]'', which also featured his father Bob Webb.<ref>{{cite web |title=It's a family affair for songwriter Jimmy Webb |url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/entertainment/2009/09/16/its-a-family-affair-for-songwriter-jimmy-webb/ |website=Shropshire Star |date=September 16, 2009 |publisher=Midland News Association |access-date=June 12, 2023}}</ref>

In 2004, Webb married Laura Savini, a host and producer for the [[Public Broadcasting Service]] (PBS).<ref>Crooning, his way;Cary Hoffman's show is exquisite Sinatra: [All Editions.=.Two Star B. Two Star P. One Star B
Ervolino, Bill.The Record; Bergen County, N.J. [Bergen County, N.J]. May 30, 2003, 2016</ref> From 1996 to 2011, Savini was vice president of marketing and communications at [[WLIW (TV)|WLIW]], a PBS station on Long Island, New York.<ref name="media-bistro"/> The couple first met backstage on New Year's Eve 1999 at [[Billy Joel]]'s [[2000 Years: The Millennium Concert]] at [[Madison Square Garden]]. Webb said, "I was drunk at the time ... I met her again a couple of years later and barely remembered meeting her the first time."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Piorkowski |first1=Jim |title=Jimmy Webb talks about his acclaimed songs, troubled life |url=https://www.cleveland.com/euclidsunjournal/2009/07/jimmy_webb_talks_about_his_acc.html |website=Cleveland.com |date=July 10, 2009 |publisher=Cleveland Plain Dealer |access-date=June 12, 2023}}</ref> Their second meeting took place when Savini interviewed Webb for her series on the arts.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

===Friendships===
Webb had close personal relationships with [[Glen Campbell]] and actor [[Richard Harris]], both of whom had great success singing his songs. Hearing Campbell on the radio singing "[[Turn Around, Look at Me]]" inspired him when he was 15 years old in 1961.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Betts |first1=Stephen I. |title=Jimmy Webb on Glen Campbell: 'The American Beatle Has Passed' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/jimmy-webb-on-glen-campbell-the-american-beatle-has-passed-127064/ |website=rollngstone.com |date=August 9, 2017 |publisher=Rolling Stone |access-date=June 17, 2023}}</ref> A life-long friend, Webb thought of Campbell as a "big brother".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Aswad |first1=Jem |title=Jimmy Webb, Writer of Glen Campbell Classics, Remembers 'My Big Brother, My Co-Culprit' |url=https://variety.com/2017/music/news/jimmy-webb-remembers-glen-campbell-songwriter-1202520456/ |website=variety..com |date=August 9, 2017 |publisher=Variety |access-date=June 17, 2023}}</ref>

He said of Richard Harris, the Irish actor with a reputation as a serious alcoholic and substance abuser,<ref>{{cite web |last1=deBurca Butler |first1=Jonathan |title=Remembering Richard Harris - Bull, bard and boozing silverscreen superstar |url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/remembering-richard-harris-bull-bard-and-boozing-silverscreen-superstar/36247119.html |website=independent.ie.com |date=October 23, 2017 |publisher=Irish Independent |access-date=June 17, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Starkey |first1=Adam |title=Dumbledore actor Richard Harris once found by his son with "face in pound of cocaine" |url=https://www.nme.com/news/film/dumbledore-actor-richard-harris-found-by-son-face-cocaine-3352017 |website=nme.com |date=November 18, 2022 |publisher=New Musical Express |access-date=June 17, 2023}}</ref> "Richard was a major figure in my life at a time when I needed someone like him to show me how to smoke a cigarette and drink whisky. It was kind of learning how men really live, and we had the time of our lives."<ref>{{cite web |last1=McPherson |first1=Douglas |title=Songwriter Jimmy Webb: 'Richard Harris taught me how men really live'; The American songwriter Jimmy Webb remembers late nights and hitmaking with his friend and mentor, the hellraising actor Richard Harris |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/11508747/Songwriter-Jimmy-Webb-Richard-Harris-taught-me-how-men-really-live.html |website=telegraph.com |date=April 3, 2015 |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=June 17, 2023}}</ref>

===Substance abuse===
In his memoir and in interviews with the press, Webb has been frank about his problems with [[substance abuse]], which included frequent use of [[cocaine]], [[marijuana]], and [[Alcohol (drug)|alcohol]]. He stated that using cocaine was pervasive in the [[music industry]] during the 1970s as recording sessions typically were long and cocaine provided the energy to keep on recording. "[Cocaine] had become legal tender. You could get studio musicians with it. You could get a date for the evening. Cocaine was in the executive suites of all the major record companies. It became cool; there was no social stigma attached to it. Au contraire: Most people didn't set off for an evening's dinner engagement and party after without your stash."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Morrison |first1=Pat |title=Jimmy Webb On Auto-Tune, Lying To Keep John Lennon From Being Deported And How Cocaine Changed Music |url=https://awaken.com/2023/01/jimmy-webb-on-auto-tune-lying-to-keep-john-lennon-from-being-deported-and-how-cocaine-changed-music/ |website=awaken.com |date=January 12, 2023 |publisher=Awaken Weekly Newsletter |access-date=June 17, 2023}}</ref>

Webb suffered a near-fatal overdose of [[phencyclidine]] in 1973 while snorting the drug with his friend, singer-songwriter [[Harry Nilsson]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Varga |first1=George |title=Jimmy Webb talks music, drugs, his new book and 'MacArthur Park' |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/sd-et-music-jimmy-webb-20170710-story.html |work=The San Diego Union-Tribune |date=July 16, 2017 |access-date=June 12, 2023}}</ref> He used cocaine with Nilsson and [[John Lennon]] during the former Beatle's "Lost Weekend" and often supplied Lennon with drugs.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Dolan |first1=Jon |title=Jimmy Webb on John Lennon's Lost Weekend, Writing for Frank Sinatra |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/jimmy-webb-on-john-lennons-lost-weekend-writing-for-frank-sinatra-118453/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |publisher=Rolling Stone |access-date=June 12, 2023}}</ref> He ceased his cocaine habit in the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Graham |first1=Jane |title=Jimmy Webb: 'I came pretty close to the edge of the abyss on a number of occasions' |url=https://www.bigissue.com/culture/music/jimmy-webb-i-came-pretty-close-to-the-edge-of-the-abyss-on-a-number-of-occasions/ |website=Big Issue |date=April 15, 2022 |publisher=The Big Issue |access-date=June 12, 2023}}</ref> He gave up alcohol and marijuana and cocaine after his divorce and revived his performing career. A heavy user of both substances, Webb has been clean and sober since 2000.<ref name="auto"/>

Webb once owned [[Carroll Shelby]]'s 427 [[AC Cobra]] Super Snake, a twin of the Cobra that [[Bill Cosby]] talked about on his album ''[[200 M.P.H.]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15151998/godzillas-ride-car-news/|title=Godzilla's Ride : Carroll Shelby's personal 800-hp Cobra to be sold|website=Caranddriver.com|date=February 2007 |access-date=May 16, 2024}}</ref>