NEW YORK (US) – African-American country singer Charley Pride, whose hits include “All I Have to Offer You (Is Me)” and “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin”, died of coronavirus-related complications in Dallas on Saturday. He was 86.
He was a trailblazer who shot to fame during a time of division and rancour. He had 52 Top 10 country hits between 1967 and 1987, apart from winning the Grammy awards and went on to become RCA Records’ top-selling country artist, said his website.
“We’re not colour blind yet, but we’ve advanced a few paces along the path and I like to think I’ve contributed something to that process,” he wrote in his memoir.
Hailing from Mississippi, Pride worked in the cotton fields and served in the US Army and also played baseball in the Negro league before shifting to Nashville where he became the first Black country star. According to the Rolling Stone magazine, he joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
“I’m so heartbroken that one of my dearest and oldest friends, Charley Pride, has passed away,” country music star Dolly Parton tweeted. “It’s even worse to know that he passed away from COVID-19. What a horrible, horrible virus. Charley, we will always love you.”
The late singer’s final performance was on Nov. 11 when he crooned his hit “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin” during the Country Music Association Award show at Nashville’s Music City Center.
He was born in Sledge, Mississippi, on March 18, 1934, to a sharecropper. After serving in the Army, he worked in a smelting plant. Pride then played for the Memphis Red Sox and Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro League before shifting based to Nashville in 1963 where he made demonstration recordings.
After four years, his recording of “Just Between You and Me” made its way into the country’s Top Ten. He bagged the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award in 1971, its top male vocalist prize the same year and in 1972 and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
“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,” said country music star Reba McEntire on Twitter.