Charley Pride: A sketch of country music’s humble trailblazer, through the eyes of his son
In this second installment of Hallowed Sound, journalists from the USA TODAY Network examine the state of race in country music, scour the South in search of untold stories and shine a light on a new, eclectic generation of Black artists.
The legacy of Charley Pride burns brightly.
From "Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'" to "Mountain of Love," the Country Music Hall of Fame artist entertained generations with a rich-voiced storytelling that Pride humbly delivered unlike any before him.
He trailblazed a format, becoming the first Black superstar to top country charts. Artists from groundbreaking "Black Like Me" singer Mickey Guyton to country legend Garth Brooks – and an endless list in between – share respect for what Pride accomplished.
For his son Dion Pride, the singer represented a "universal" sound heard in country music. Charley Pride died in December of COVID-19 complications. He was 86.
"I never listened to my father with color," Dion Pride told the USA TODAY Network. "It never dawned on me or occurred to me that he had the pigmentation that he had. I think that was something about ... his character and his way with people – and of course the delivery of his vocal – that was very universal.
"I feel like I'm biased, but I do truly believe my father was the best of all time."
Still, Dion Pride didn't see Charley Pride – the entertainer – much at home, he said.
"His character, his humility, his humbleness; he was always Dad when he came home," Dion Pride said. "He always would say he was the well. If you want the answers, come to him. So I spent a lot of time picking his brain on wisdom and life. ... I saw (the on-stage entertainer) from afar, if that makes sense."
Then Dion Pride started touring with his father. He soon found himself with a backstage view to his father's excellence. He toured on and off with Charley Pride's road band for more than two decades, playing keyboards or guitar. Dion Pride sometimes opened the show.
He saw the power of his father's voice at a show in Ireland, where the singer led an a cappela singalong of folk standard "Danny Boy."
"They start singing with him (and) he puts the mic down," Dion Pride said. "They stop singing when he stops singing. He says: 'No, it's your song. You sing.' ... They were just screaming for him: 'No. Sing it with us. Sing it with us.'
"He starts singing with them. And there's nothing more powerful than the human voice. To hear my dad ... it may sound corny, but I felt levitated that night."
His father's legacy blazed brightly overseas on that night, and it continues to burn with a new generation of artists raised on his showmanship.
"Outside of race, outside of culture, outside (the) country that you're from, he brought people together," Dion Pride said. "That's the lesson I got from him. He brought people together as people.
"There was never any thought or indication of differences. It was a united, reciprocal experience for everybody above and beyond our natural, I'd say, conditioned shortcomings of the cultures and races. That's something that was invaluable that I was able to learn from my father."
Dion Pride joined George Strait, Alan Jackson, Jimmie Allen, Luke Combs, Lee Ann Womack, Darius Rucker and more in paying tribute to Charley Pride last month as part of an all-star television special, "CMT Giants: Charley Pride."
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Charley Pride: Country music's humble trailblazer as a Black star
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