Negro League All Star, country music legend Charley Pride passes away

Former two time Negro League All Star and country music legend Charley Pride has passed away due to COVID-19 complications. He was 86 years old.

Charley Pride is best known as a trailblazer in country music. He was the genre’s first black superstar, an excellent musician who was a crossover star in the 1970s. Prior to his days as a country singer, Pride was a pitcher in the Negro Leagues, and had a stint in the Yankees and Reds systems.

On Saturday, the country legend passed away due to COVID-19 complications. He was 86 years old.

Pride made his professional debut with the Memphis Red Sox as an 18 year old in 1952. His performance grabbed the attention of the New York Yankees, who signed him to a contract for the 1953 season. However, an arm injury early in his time in the Yankees’ system sapped the velocity of his fastball, as he was sent down to New York’s Class D team before eventually returning to the Negro Leagues.

He did manage to find success in the Negro Leagues despite his diminished velocity, being named to the All Star Game in 1956 and 1957. He did receive another opportunity in affiliated ball, this time with the Reds in 1960, but only lasted three games. He was not yet ready to give up on his dream of being a professional baseball player, attending tryouts for the Angels and Mets, but was not selected either time.

Fate had other plans for Pride. In 1958, at the urging of a couple of other country musicians, recording a few songs at Sun Studios in Memphis. He began performing at clubs in Montana, either as a solo artist or with a four piece band. Eventually, one of his demo tapes reached Chet Atkins at RCA Victor, who signed Pride to a contract.

The rest was history. On the strength of hits such as ‘The Snakes Crawl At Night,’ ‘Crystal Chandeliers,’ and ‘Kiss An Angel Good Mornin,’ amongst other songs, he became RCA’s second best selling artist, trailing only Elvis Presley. Throughout his career, he had 52 singles appear on the Billboard Top Country Hits chart, 30 of which reached number one.

Pride made plenty of history within the industry as well. He became one of three black artists ever to become a member of the Grand Ol’ Opry and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. He was active right until the end, performing approximately a month ago.

Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Charley Pride at this difficult time.