Country star Charley Pride — part owner of the Rangers and Negro American League player — dead at 86
Country music Hall of Famer Charley Pride died Saturday of COVID-19 complications. He was 86.
Pride, considered country music’s first Black superstar, had a singing career that lasted over a decade. From 1969 to 1983, Pride had 29 No. 1 hits. He won the CMA Entertainer of the Year award in 1971. He was inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000, and was awarded the CMA’s Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award in November.
He was an absolute legend in the industry.
Rest In Peace. My love and thoughts go out to his family and all of his fans. - Dolly (2/2)
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) December 12, 2020
Charley Pride played in Negro League before becoming a country singer
While Pride will be remembered as a country music legend, he also had a brief run in the Negro American League. Pride — a pitcher — played for the Memphis Red Sox and Birmingham Black Barons in the 1950s. In his 1994 autobiography, Pride claimed that he and a teammate were traded from the Red Sox to the Black Barons “for a used motor vehicle.” That story is unconfirmed, according to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum’s website.
In 1956, Pride was drafted to the U.S. Army. When he returned, Pride gave baseball another shot, once again joining the Red Sox. Pride eventually left the Red Sox and tried to hook on with a Major League Baseball team, but was unsuccessful. At that point, Pride went home and signed a record deal with RCA.
Though Pride’s career took a different path, he never lost his love for baseball. He served as a member of the National Advisory Board for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Pride also was a part owner of the Texas Rangers.
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