Tributes flow following death of country music pioneer Charley Pride

Tributes flowed in from fellow country music stars Dolly Parton and Keith Urban on Sunday, as the news broke that American singer Charley Pride had died at the age of 86.  The star passed away in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday from complications related to Covid-19, according to his publicist.

Dolly Parton took to Twitter to express her sorrow, saying, “I’m so heartbroken that one of my dearest and oldest friends, Charley Pride, has passed away. It’s even worse to know that he passed away from Covid-19. What a horrible, horrible virus. Charley, we will always love you. Rest In Peace. My love and thoughts go out to his family and all of his fans.”

Keith Urban also took to Twitter to say, “We lost a great one today. Charley was such a pioneer on so many levels, but for me he was among the first country music voices I heard on our family’s record player. I sang many of his songs in my cover band days, and so it was surreal to finally be on stage with him at our All For The Hall concert playing ‘Kiss An Angel Good Morning’. He was also one of kindest people I’ve ever met.”

Pride will be remembered for chart toppers including ‘Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone’ (released in 1970), ‘Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’ (released in 1971) and ‘Then Who Am I’ (released in 1986). During the peak years of his recording career (1966–’87), he had 52 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, 30 of which went to number one.

Pride rose to stardom in an era where almost all country music singers were white, and early on in his career his race was hidden from radio DJs and press, who received his first singles without any artist publicity shots.

Just last month, on November 11, the three-time Grammy winning music star was honoured by the Country Music Association with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award in Nashville, Tennessee. He performed on stage that night in what would be his last public performance.

Pride is survived by his wife, Rozene Cohran, who he married in 1956; three children, Kraig, Dion and Angela and several grandchildren.