Country icon Charley Pride dies of COVID-19

Country music legend Charley Pride, widely considered the genre’s first Black superstar, died Saturday after contracting COVID-19, according to multiple reports. He was 86.

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Pride died in Dallas, KTVT reported, citing the musician’s representative.

Last month, Pride was awarded the 2020 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 54th Annual CMA Awards. During the award ceremony, he performed “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’” alongside fellow country musician Jimmie Allen.

“Charley Pride is the epitome of a trailblazer,” CMA Chief Executive Officer Sarah Trahern said earlier this year. “Few other artists have grown Country Music’s rich heritage and led to the advancement of Country Music around the world like Charley. His distinctive voice has created a timeless legacy that continues to echo through the Country community today.”

In a career that launched in the 1960s and lasted more than five decades, Pride saw dozens of his songs hit the top 10 of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. He was known for tunes including “Mountain of Love” and “Is Anybody Going to San Antone?” and considered himself to be “a very fortunate entertainer” for having several “signature songs,” according to officials with the Grand Ole Opry.

“I’m fortunate enough to have about four or five,” he said. “If I leave one or two out of my show, I’m going to hear something about it before the night’s over.”

Pride was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1993 and inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. He won three Grammy Awards for his 1971 Gospel album “Did you Think to Pray,” his 1971 single “Let Me Live” and his 1971 album “Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs.” In 2017, The Recording Academy awarded him with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Pride is survived by his wife, Rozene, two sons and a daughter, according to Variety.

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Dawn Wells FILE PHOTO: Actress Dawn Wells attends the 2015 TV Land Awards at Saban Theatre on April 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. Wells died Wednesday of illness related to COVID-19. She was 82. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

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