Charley Pride overcame racial barriers as country music star

CORRECTS FIRST NAME TO CHARLEY, INSTEAD OF CHARLIE FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2000, file photo, Charley Pride performs during his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame at the Country Music Association Awards show at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn. Pride, the son of sharecroppers in Mississippi and became one of country music’s biggest stars and the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, has died at age 86. Pride died Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020, in Dallas of complications from Covid-19, according to Jeremy Westby of the public relations firm 2911 Media. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

CORRECTS FIRST NAME TO CHARLEY, INSTEAD OF CHARLIE FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2000, file photo, Charley Pride, right, receives his Country Music Hall of Fame plaque from Merle Haggard at the Country Music Association Awards show at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn. Pride, the son of sharecroppers in Mississippi and became one of country music’s biggest stars and the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, has died at age 86. Pride died Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020, in Dallas of complications from Covid-19, according to Jeremy Westby of the public relations firm 2911 Media. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

CORRECTS FIRST NAME TO CHARLEY, INSTEAD OF CHARLIE FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2000, file photo, Country music legend Charley Pride with his wife Rozene arrive at the Gaylord Entertainment Center to celebrate, Garth Brooks' selling 100 million albums, during a private party in his honor in Nashville, Tenn. Pride, the son of sharecroppers in Mississippi and became one of country music’s biggest stars and the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, has died at age 86. Pride died Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020, in Dallas of complications from Covid-19, according to Jeremy Westby of the public relations firm 2911 Media. (AP Photo/John Russell, File)