Charley Pride has joined the heavenly choir which must have more stars than it can cope with now. We have been robbed of so many lifelong friends in 2020, and Charley was that and more. I first met Charley Pride at the Country Music Awards show in Nashville 1972. It was a brief meeting. Read More He was a massive star on RCA records, second only to Elvis Presley, and I was a star-struck fledgling journalist visiting America for the first time. He was surrounded by heavy security everywhere he went. White racists didn't want a black man singing 'their' music. Some of the black community were angry with him for singing country songs. It seemed he couldn't win.