Charley Pride dies of COVID at age 86

Country music legend Charlie Pride has died from complications of COVID-19. The first African American to become a country music superstar was 86. I can recall when he was the only black man I knew who sang country music. Some African Americans did not understand as they thought country music was only for whites. Charlie Prides staying power, the respect he has garnered and all of his hit records attest to the fact that he was right where he was supposed to be. Pride was honored this past November by the Country Music Association, with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award during the CMA Awards.

Prior to the ceremony, he told the Tennessean "The best I can say is I wanna go and receive this and put it with all the rest that I've been fortunate enough to get." That was a a pretty good way to phrase things. Pride remained humble and I never heard a scandal associated with his name. He was a role model that all people could look up to. It’s sad that he lived 86 years only to die from COVID. Whenever I hear of older seniors passing from the coronavirus I always wonder how many more years they might have had if the pandemic was not among us.

Charley Pride had a number of hits but his signature song was Kiss an Angel Good Mornin which was a 1971 crossover tune. This was the first time I had heard of him or his music and it was because the song was on the top 40 countdown with Casey Kasem. The entertainment world has lost a one of a kind legend who opened the door for other African Americans to express themselves by singing country music instead of R&B, soul or pop. His life was one that showed the world diversity.

Charlie Pride was born on March 18, 1934 in Sledge Mississippi. His birth name was Charl Frank but due to a clerical error it was spelled Charley. His parents were poor sharecroppers but at age 12 his mother gave him his first guitar and he taught himself to play. In addition to being a talented singer, he was a guitarist, musician, business owner, and professional baseball player. In 2952 he pitched for the Negro League of the Memphis Red Sox.

His greatest musical success was during the early to mid-1970s. At that time the artist became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis Presley and that’s pretty impressive. The peak years of his recording career were 1966–87. During this time he received 52 top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. That’s a lot of singles. Of that number 30 of his recordings made it to the number one position which also pretty impressive.

Pride met his wife Rozene in Memphis while playing baseball. The couple was married in 1956 while Pride was on Christmas leave from Army basic training. They had two sons, Kraig and Dion, and a daughter, Angela and resided in Dallas, Texas. The couple enjoyed 64 years of marriage which another blessing . Charlie Pride was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000, enjoying the distinction of being the first of only three African-Americans who became members of the Grand Ole Opry. The other two are DeFord Bailey and Darius Rucker. Pride became a member of the Grand Ole Opry on May 1, 1993 and celebrated his 25th anniversary of becoming a member with performances at the Opry on May 4 and May 5, 2018.

In 2008, Pride received the Mississippi Arts Commission's lifetime achievement award during the organization's Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts. The country crooner performed the national anthem before game six of the 1980 World Series and performed the national anthem at Super Bowl VIII. He sang the anthem again for game five of the 2010 World Series. In 2016, Pride was selected as one of 30 artists who performed on Forever Country, a mash-up track of I Will Always Love You," "Take Me Home, Country Roads", and "On the Road Again" when the CMA celebrated 50 years.