Charley Pride, country music's first black star, has died of complications from COVID-19 aged 86.
Key points:
- Pride was the first black inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame
- He sold more than 25 million records during his career
- Tributes from fellow country stars remembered Pride as a pioneer of the genre
A public relations firm confirmed Pride died in Dallas on Saturday, US time.
Pride released dozens of albums and sold more than 25 million records during a career that began in the mid-1960s.
His hit songs included Kiss an Angel Good Morning, Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone, Burgers and Fries, Mountain of Love, and Someone Loves You Honey.
He had three Grammy Awards, more than 30 US number one 1 hits between 1969 and 1984, won the Country Music Association's top male vocalist and entertainer of the year awards in 1972 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
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The Smithsonian in Washington acquired memorabilia from Pride, including a pair of boots and one of his guitars, for the the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Pride 'never focused on race'
Other American black country stars came before Pride, namely DeFord Bailey, who was a Grand Ole Opry member between 1927 and 1941.
But until the early 1990s, when Cleve Francis came along, Pride was the only black country singer signed to a major label. In 1993, he joined the Opry cast in Nashville.
"They used to ask me how it feels to be the 'first coloured country singer'," he told The Dallas Morning News in 1992.
"Then it was 'first Negro country singer;' then 'first black country singer. Now I'm the 'first African American country singer. That's about the only thing that's changed.
Blessed with a rich baritone, Pride was raised in Sledge, Mississippi, the son of a sharecropper. He had seven brothers and three sisters.
In 2008 while accepting a lifetime achievement award as part of the Mississippi Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts, Pride said he never focused on race.
"My older sister one time said, 'Why are you singing THEIR music?'" Pride said.
"But we all understand what the y'all-and-us-syndrome has been. See, I never as an individual accepted that, and I truly believe that's why I am where I am today."
Tributes pour in for 'country music pioneer'
Fellow country music Hall of Famer Dolly Parton paid tribute to Pride on Twitter, saying she was heartbroken he had passed of the coronavirus.
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Country performer Ronnie Milsap called Pride a "pioneer" and said that without his encouragement, Milsap might never gone to Nashville.
"To hear this news tears out a piece of my heart," he said in a statement.
Australian country star Keith Urban described Pride as "one of the kindest people I've ever met".
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"Charley Pride will always be a legend in country music. He will truly be missed but will always be remembered for his great music, wonderful personality and his big heart," country music star Reba McEntire wrote on Twitter.
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Baseball All Star before signing with RCA
Before launching his singing career, Pride was a pitcher and outfielder in the Negro American League with the Memphis Red Sox and in the Pioneer League in Montana.
He was a two-time Negro leagues All Star, playing against future Major League Baseball Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Ernie Banks.
After playing minor league baseball a couple of years, he ended up in Helena, Montana, where he worked in a zinc smelting plant by day and played country music in nightclubs at night.
After a tryout with the New York Mets, he visited Nashville and broke into country music when Chet Atkins, head of RCA Records, heard two of his demo tapes and signed him.
Later in life he returned to baseball, becoming a part owner of the Texas Rangers MLB team.
The Rangers released a statement following Pride's death saying he became a regular participant at the club's spring training camps right up until the this year's camp.
"Mr Pride's first love was baseball. He pitched professionally in the Negro and Minor Leagues throughout the 1950's before embarking on his Hall of Fame singing career of more than 60 years," the team said.
"Mr Pride was a true gentleman, and we will never forget the lasting contributions he has made to the Texas Rangers organisation."
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The Rangers' stadiums will fly flags at half-staff on Sunday and Monday in his memory.
Some stations refused to play him on account of his race
To ensure that Pride was judged on his music and not his race, his first few singles were sent to radio stations without a publicity photo.
After his identity became known, a few country radio stations refused to play his music.
For the most part, though, Pride said he was well received.
Early in his career, he would put white audiences at ease when he joked about his "permanent tan".
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"Music is the greatest communicator on the planet Earth," he said in 1992.
"Once people heard the sincerity in my voice and heard me project and watched my delivery, it just dissipated any apprehension or bad feeling they might have had."
Throughout his career, he sang positive songs instead of the sad tunes often associated with country music.
"Music is a beautiful way of expressing oneself and I truly believe music should not be taken as a protest," he told The Associated Press in 1985.
"You can go too far in anything — singing, acting, whatever — and become politicised to the point you cease to be an entertainer."
In 1994, he wrote his autobiography, Pride: The Charley Pride Story, in which he disclosed he was mildly manic depressive.
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He had surgery in 1997 to remove a tumour from his right vocal cord.
He received the Living Legend award from The Nashville Network/Music City News, recognising 30 years of achievement, in 1997.
"I'd like to be remembered as a good person who tried to be a good entertainer and made people happy, was a good American who paid his taxes and made a good living," he said in 1985.
"I tried to do my best and contribute my part."
He is survived by his wife, Rozene, who he married in 1956; three children, Kraig, Dion and Angela; and several grandchildren.
Wires/ABC
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEyLTEzL2NvdW50cnktc2luZ2VyLWNoYXJsZXktcHJpZGUtZGllcy1mcm9tLWNvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWF0LTg2LzEyOTc4OTM00gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEyOTc4OTM0?oc=5
2020-12-13 00:20:00Z
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