Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Prideis an American country music singer, musician/guitarist, recording artist, performer, and business owner. His greatest musical success came in the early- to mid-1970s when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis Presley. During the peak years of his recording career, he garnered 52 top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 29 of which made it to number one...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCountry Singer
Date of Birth18 March 1938
CitySledge, MS
CountryUnited States of America
I've seen people who have been coming to my shows for 25 years.
In 20 years I had sold more records for RCA than any artist except Elvis Presley.
A black man singing about a blond girl was potential trouble.
It isn't reasonable to expect that everyone in the world is a country music fan. Not yet, anyway.
Once your name becomes well known, politicians come courting.
There is an intimacy about the Opry Theater that gives an entertainer a special charge.
I was sometimes jeered by black soldiers who wanted me to sing something besides country music.
I'm not James Brown. I'm not Sam Cooke. I'm Charley Pride. I'm just me and that's what you got.
People pay attention to lyrics, and the race matter was delicate.
There were very few black people in Montana but we never felt out of place.
Until MTV, television had not been a huge influence on music. To compete with MTV, the country music moguls felt they had to appeal to the same young audience and do it the way MTV did.
Baseball got into my blood early and I worked harder at it than anything.
There only have been two people on this earth that I was nervous around: Chet Atkins and Mickey Mantle. It's because of the respect I have for them.
A lot of celebrities relish politics and are eager to lend their names to candidates and causes. I never wanted to be a spokesman for anybody.