Iconic US country singer, Charley Pride dies from COVID-19

Iconic US country singer, Charley Pride has on Saturday died of complications from COVID-19.

The news of his death was contained in a message posted on the late singer’s website.

Pride, 86, was born in Sledge, Mississippi and became the first Black US country superstar. He was also the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

In a successful career than spanned over 20 years, Pride delivered 52 country hits, won Grammy awards and became RCA Records’ top+selling country artist.

His best-known songs include “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’” and “Please Help Me I’m Falling.”

While talking about his experience as a young Black Country singer, Pride told The Dallas Morning News in 1992, “They used to ask me how it feels to be the `first colored country singer.

“Then it was `first Negro country singer;’ then `first Black country singer.? Now I’m the `first African-American country singer.? That’s about the only thing that’s changed. This country is so race-conscious, so ate-up with colors and pigments. I call it `skin hangups’ — it’s a disease.” 

Pride is survived by his wife, Ebby Rozene Cohran Pride, three children, five grandchildren, and two grandchildren.