By Peter Cooper and Barb Hall
Often referred to as the “Jackie Robinson of Country music,” merging the line between country music and baseball was a seamless transition for Charley Pride.
Raised as less than a citizen in segregated Mississippi, Pride’s buttery voice and steely resolve earned him a place as one of American music’s most impactful artists. He landed in Nashville in 1963, the same year the Tennessee capital was the site of sit-ins and racial violence. Two years later, he was a major label recording artist in the otherwise lily-white country music field, and in short time he became a superstar whose path would lead him to a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame.