This page contains Charley Pride songs, albums and video links. Music profile for Charley Pride with events, tracks, videos, pictures, lyrics and band information.
Charley Frank Pride (born March 18, 1934) is a country music artist. During his career, he has had thirty-six number-one hits on the ''Billboard magazine|Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts. He was one of the few African-American country musicians to have considerable success in the largely white country music industry.
Early life and career
Pride was born in Sledge, Mississippi|Sledge, Mississippi, one of eleven children of poor sharecroppers. His father named him "Charl Frank Pride", but because of a typing error on his birth certificate, he was legally born as Charley Frank Pride.<ref name="CMHOF">[http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/inductees.aspx?cid=158# Country Music Hall of Fame]</ref> In his early teens, Pride began to play the guitar.
Though he also loved music, one of Pride's life-long dreams was to become a professional baseball player. In 1952, he Pitcher (baseball)|pitched for the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League. He pitched well, and, in 1953, he signed a contract with the Boise, Idaho|Boise Yankees, the Class C farm team of the New York Yankees. During that season, an injury caused him to lose the "mustard" on his fastball, and he was sent down to the Yankees' Class D team in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Later on that season, while back in the Negro Leagues with the Louisville, Kentucky|Louisv... read all