Charley Frank Pride was born on the 18th March 1938, in Sledge, Mississippi USA, and is a country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and a businessman. Pride is a Grammy Award winner with 52 top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and is a member of the Grand Ole Opry. His career has been active since 1966.
Have you ever wondered how rich Charley Pride is, as of mid-2016? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Charley’s net worth is as high as $3 million, earned through his successful musical career. In addition to being a highly popular country performer, Pride is also a minority owner of the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball Club, and it has improved his wealth.
Charley Pride Net Worth $3 Million
Charley Pride was born one of eleven children into a poor family of sharecroppers and grew up in Mississippi. His mother bought him his first guitar when he was 14, but although he loved music, Pride had the dream of becoming a professional baseball player. Pride started playing baseball as a pitcher for the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League in 1952 and did well enough to sign a deal with the Boise Yankees, the Class C farm team of the New York Yankees in 1953.
In 1960, Charley moved to Helena, Montana to work in construction, and also played for the local semi-pro baseball team, the East Helena Smelterites. He earned $10 per game, while also earning an additional $10 for singing before every match after his team manager noticed his singing talent. Pride played music in Montana bars, where he was discovered by Chet Atkins at RCA Victor who offered him a contract, and eventually signed him in 1966. Charley’s first released single was called “The Snakes Crawl at Night”, while his song “Just Between You and Me” was a massive hit and even earned him a Grammy nomination. Pride recorded his debut album “Country” in 1966, and it achieved gold status in the US, reaching No.16 on the US Country chart.
In 1967, Pride released the album called “The Country Way” which topped the US Country chart and also entered the Billboard 200, achieving another golden status. From 1969 to 1970, Charley had five more gold certified albums: “Charley Pride in Person” (1969), “The Sensational Charley Pride” (1969), “Just Plain Charley” (1970), “Charley Pride’s 10th Album” (1970), and “From Me to You” (1970); this early success and popularity significantly increased his net worth. He has recorded 30 more country albums to date, with some of them topping the charts, the most notable being “I’m Just Me” (1971), “Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs” (1971), “A Sunshiny Day with Charley Pride” (1972), “Songs of Love by Charley Pride” (1972), and “Amazing Love” (1973), all of which increased further his net worth.
In the ‘80s, Charley stayed with RCA Records until 1986, and had another No.1 album called “There’s a Little Bit of Hank in Me” in 1980. He wasn’t as successful in the ‘90s and 2000’s as he was in the 70’s and 80’s, but continued to work and stayed recognized as one of the top country artists in America.
Pride has received numerous awards including three Grammy’s for the songs: “Did You Think To Pray” (1971), “Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs” (1972), and “Let Me Live Lyrics” (1972). He has also won three American Music Awards, three Country Music Association awards, and was inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2000.
In 1994, he co-wrote his autobiography – “Pride: The Charley Pride Story”.
Regarding his personal life, Charley Pride married Rozene Cohan in 1956 and they have two sons and a daughter. He and his family currently live in Dallas, Texas.
