American guitarist, singer and baseball player whose greatest musical success came in the early to mid-1970s, when he was the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis Presley. During the peak years of his recording career (1966–1987), he garnered 52 top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, 30 of which made it to number one. He won the Entertainer of the Year award at the Country Music Association Awards in 1971. He won three Grammys plus a 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Pride was one of three African-American members of the Grand Ole Opry (the others are DeFord Bailey and Darius Rucker). He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
His musical career began in 1963 as country music’s first black star, selling more records than any artist except Presley by 1996. Raised as one of 11 children, Charlie picked cotton and milked cows when young and dreamed of great baseball plans. With baseball his first love, he had his mind set on places like Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and the Polo Grounds. He was good enough at 17 to play in the top black baseball leagues and twice earned Spring training spots; one for the California Angels and once with the Mets. He played baseball with the American Negro League, Memphis Red Sox and after an Army stint, with the Los Angeles Angels.
As an elevator operator in Memphis, Tennessee he heard about a smelter in East Helena, Montana which held open 18 jobs for ballplayers. He would work in the smelter by day and play ball at night. He and his wife, Rozene, moved and became Montanans. He and Rozene had three children.
In Helena, he began singing in local clubs and performed over the stadium P.A. system. One night he sang backstage for country star Red Foley who thought enough of his talents to invite him to Nashville. Pride gave baseball one last serious shot in 1961 and when they bounced him, he took Foley up on his invitation. Pride’s music career took off in 1965 after some tapes he’d made fell into the hands of Chet Akins who was then the head of RCA’s Nashville division.
Pride was indicted into the Country Music Hall of Fame during the 34th annual awards ceremony on 4 October 2000, held at the Grand Ole Opry House.
On 8 May 2004 in Dallas, Pride underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. Pride had a tumor removed from his right vocal cord in 1997 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Charley Pride died in Dallas, Texas on 12 December 2020 at age 86 from complications related to COVID-19.
Link to Wikipedia biography