Charley Frank Pride was born on March 18, 1938 in Sledge, Mississippi and is an acclaimed country music artist. During his career, he has had thirty-six number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. He is one of the few African-American country musicians to have had considerable success in the largely Caucasian country music industry and the only one to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.
Pride was one of eleven children of poor sharecroppers. His father named him "Charl Frank Pride", but because of an error on his birth certificate, his legal name is Charley Frank Pride. In his early teens, Pride began playing guitar.
After struggling to get a contract with a record company, he finally caught the ear of record producer Chet Atkins. Atkins was the longtime producer of RCA Records, and made stars out of country singers like Jim Reeves, Skeeter Davis and others. Pride was signed to RCA in 1966.
In 1966, he released his first single with RCA, "Snakes Crawl at Night". When the song was promoted to radio stations, the label called Pride "Country Charley Pride". At this time, country music was a white medium.
Pride's third single, "Just Between You and Me", was what finally brought Pride success on the Country charts. The song reached #9. It’s was enormous. He won a Grammy Award for the song the next year.
In 1967, he became the first black performer to appear at the Grand Ole Opry since harmonica player DeFord Bailey in 1925. Between 1969 and 1971, he had six number-one hits. All of them reached the lower region of the pop charts, showing the country/pop crossover sound that was reaching Country music in the 1960s and early 1970s, known as "Countrypolitan". Pride has sold over 70 million records (singles, albums, compilation included).
After struggling to get a contract with a record company, he finally caught the ear of record producer Chet Atkins. Atkins was the longtime producer of RCA Records, and made stars out of country singers like Jim Reeves, Skeeter Davis and others. Pride was signed to RCA in 1966.
In 1966, he released his first single with RCA, "Snakes Crawl at Night". When the song was promoted to radio stations, the label called Pride "Country Charley Pride". At this time, country music was a white medium.
Pride's third single, "Just Between You and Me", was what finally brought Pride success on the Country charts. The song reached #9. It’s was enormous. He won a Grammy Award for the song the next year.
In 1967, he became the first black performer to appear at the Grand Ole Opry since harmonica player DeFord Bailey in 1925. Between 1969 and 1971, he had six number-one hits. All of them reached the lower region of the pop charts, showing the country/pop crossover sound that was reaching Country music in the 1960s and early 1970s, known as "Countrypolitan". Pride has sold over 70 million records (singles, albums, compilation included).
