From Sledge Mississippi to Dublin Ireland. Charlie Pride is one of the greatest American country artists and guitarists. He was regarded as the Gentleman of Country, as he was known as a man full of joy with a peaceful heart. He had a remarkable career. The black singer was able to conquer a dominantly white music genre and won over the fans with his comfortable demeanour and his soft baritone. Pride has many notable achievements. His greatest musical success came from 1961 to 1971, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis. During this time, Pride had eight singles to reach No 1 in the US Country Charts. In 1971, Pride’s single “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin” became a multi-million selling hit and entered the Pop Top 40 Billboard Chart. The same year, Pride won the Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year and Top Male Vocal. In 2000, Charley Pride was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, which honours legendary performers who made a significant contribution to Country Music. Charley Pride also became an unlikely hero for the Irish people during the height of the Northern Ireland troubles. Belfast based, Irish music promoter , Jim Aiken , invited Charlie Pride to Belfast. With the luck of the irish , both Aiken and Pride never looked back . Mr Aiken went on to be the biggest music promoter in ireland and was associated with bringing the biggest music artists to Ireland including Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, and Luciano Pavarotti. Acts such as Tammy Wynette and Johnny Cash cancelled their concerts, Pride played on, helping restore normality to the people of Belfast. His visit to Ireland lead to Pride having a special place in the people of Ireland's hearts. He a chance for the people to forget about the worries and troubles of Belfast. Irish eyes were smiling when Pride toured Ireland and the UK. His song “Crystal Chandeliers” found life as a Northern Irish Unity Anthem. It was during that week in Belfast that an American Icon became a global one. Charlie Pride was a remarkable man, is it yet another achievement for him that he was a professional baseball player before his music career even began. Issued Under License from n2k UK Ltd. Special Edition 180 gram Virgin Vinyl A New High Fidelity Recording. Cover is taken from an original oil painting. The Copyright of the Artwork is Owned by Platinum Music Ireland.
