He Picked Cotton as a Boy and Was Once Traded for a Team Bus. At 86, Charley Pride Sang His Big Hit One Last Time

Charley Pride was born in Sledge, Mississippi, in 1934, the fourth of 11 children in a family of sharecroppers.

His first dream wasn’t music. It was baseball.

He pitched in the Negro American League for the Memphis Red Sox. He liked to tell the story of the day he and a teammate were traded for a team bus.

Then the Army called. From 1956 to 1958, Charley served as a quartermaster at Fort Carson, Colorado.

Through all of it, he kept singing. In 1965, Chet Atkins signed him to RCA Records, and history was made.

Charley became one of the best-selling artists RCA ever had, second only to Elvis Presley, with more than 70 million records sold. In 1971 he was named CMA Entertainer of the Year, and in 2000 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

One of his biggest songs was “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’,” released in 1971.

On November 11, 2020, the Country Music Association gave Charley its Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. To celebrate, he took the stage with young country star Jimmie Allen, and they sang that song together.

Charley was 86. His smile was as big as ever, and out in the audience, Eric Church was singing along.

It turned out to be his final performance. Charley Pride passed away one month later, on December 12, 2020.

What a way to say goodbye.

Do you remember hearing Charley Pride on the radio? Tell us your favorite song of his.