Pride first fell in love with the genre while listening to Grand Ole Opry radio shows during his youth. He used to sing in music clubs in his spare time while playing Negro League baseball when he was only sixteen, but decided to make it a full-time venture after a failed tryout with the New York Mets. He arrived in Nashville in 1963 and was eventually signed to RCA Records in 1965 by country guitarist and record executive Chet Atkins.
His first single was “Just Between You and Me.” Released in 1967, the song broke into the Top 10 on country charts and garnered Pride his first Grammy nomination. Pride then embarked on a career that spanned over four decades. Between 1967 and 1987, he won Grammy awards and became the top-selling country artist of RCA Records.
Some of Pride’s biggest hits include “Just Between You and Me” and “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone” in 1971. His recording of “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’” became his biggest hit – it reached No. 1 on the country charts and crossed over to No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1993, Pride was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.
Indeed, the world of country music has once again lost a superstar. Pride is survived by his wife, Rozene Cohran, along with their two sons and a daughter.