Charley Pride (born 1938) was country music's first African American star. For the past 25 years, Pride has been ranked among the top 15 best-selling recording artists of all time. During his career, he has had 36 number-one hit singles, and he has sold over 25 million albums. He has had 31 gold albums, 4 platinum albums, and 1 quadruple platinum album. Pride was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000, the highest honor a country musician can receive. As an RCA Records recording artist, Pride is second in sales only to Elvis Presley.

Mississippi Delta Childhood

Charl (mistakenly changed to "Charley" on his birth certificate) Frank Pride was born on March 18, 1938, in Sledge, Mississippi. Like many other Mississippi Delta towns, Sledge consisted only of little more than a "grocery store, a barber shop, a hardware and farm supply store, a general merchandise store, a café, and a gas station." In the pre-civil...