Born in Sledge on March 18, 1938, Charley Frank Pride was the son of sharecropper parents and one of eleven children. He first pursued baseball, playing as a pitcher and outfielder with the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League, trying out with the New York Mets and California Angels, and spending time with minor league clubs in Montana. While singing country songs for teammates on bus trips, he began performing in clubs in Helena, Montana, where a local disc jockey arranged an audition for Red Foley and Red Sovine that led to a publishing recommendation and a recording audition in Nashville. After finding manager Jack Johnson and waiting into 1966 for a recording contract, Pride emerged as a major country music artist despite there being no precedent for an African-American singer achieving country music stardom. With his rich baritone and traditional honky tonk style, he became a successful recording artist beginning with “The Snakes Crawl at Night,” reached the Top Ten with “Just Between You and Me,” and recorded fifty-two Top Ten singles between 1966 and 1984, including twenty-eight Number One hits such as “Kiss an Angel Good Morning,” “All I Have to Offer You Is Me,” “Is Anybody Going to San Antone?,” “Crystal Chandelier,” and “Someone Loves You Honey.” A hugely successful live performer across multiple continents into the 21st century, he was named the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year in 1971, top male vocalist in 1971 and 1972, became a regular cast member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1993, published his memoir in 1994, entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000, and received a lifetime achievement award from the Mississippi Arts Commission in 2008.
