Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride was born in Sledge, Mississippi on March 18, 1938. One of eleven children born to poor sharecropper family, at fourteen years of age he became self-taught playing a guitar purchased from Sears Roebuck. Combining his dreams of being a major league baseball player with a career in music, Charley playing with the Memphis Red Sox and would sing and play his guitar while traveling between ballparks.
As his baseball dreams vanished,[1] Charley turned his attention to music where having been discovered by Chet Atkins, he would be signed to a recording contract with RCA Victor where his very first effort, “The Snakes Crawl at Night” was a hit. After seven top ten hits on the country music charts, Charley had his first #1 chart topper in mid 1969 with "All I Have to Offer You (Is Me)".
Selling more than 70 million records, among Charley’s thirty plus number one hits over the next two decades were, "Is Anybody Going to San Antone", “I’m so Afraid of Loosing You Again”, “Wonder Could I Live There Anymore”, “I Can’t Believe That You’ve Stopped Loving Me”, “I’d Rather Love You”, “I’m Just Me”, “Kiss An Angel Good Morning”, “It’s Gonna Take A Little Bit Longer”, “She’s Too Good To Be True”, “A Shoulder To Cry On”, “Amazing Love”, “You Win Again”, “Why Baby Why”, “Honky Took blues”, “Mountain of Love” and “Night Games”.
The County Music Association named Charley Pride "Entertainer of the Year" in 1971 and 1972. In 1993 Charley accepted an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry. The following year he was honored by the Academy of Country Music with its prestigious Pioneer Award. In July 1999 Charley Pride received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 2000 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
References
- ↑ Though he never played professionally, he regularly trains with the Texas Rangers and has from time to time owned a small portion of the franchise.
External links
- http://www.charleypride.com/ - Charley Pride Official Website
