Three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning, Mississippi-born country artist Charley Pride will be the inaugural recipient of GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi's Crossroads of American Music Award at the Mississippi Museum's 2019 Gala on Friday, Nov. 1. Established by the Museum's Board of Directors, the Crossroads of American Music Award honors an artist who has made significant musical contributions influenced by the creativity born in the cradle of American music. Pride will appear at the Museum's 2019 Gala to accept the award on Nov. 1 at GRAMMY Museum Mississippi.
"We are thrilled to recognize the great Charley Pride as the first-ever recipient of our Crossroads of American Music Award," said Emily Havens, Executive Director of GRAMMY Museum Mississippi. "As a native of Mississippi, Charley has had a significant impact on American music with his uncompromising honky-tonk country music. Charley broke new ground in the '60s when he emerged as one of the most successful black country artists at that time. It's an honor to recognize Charley Pride as the inaugural recipient of our Crossroads of American Music Award."
GRAMMY Museum Mississippi's Red Carpet Guild, an organization of committed volunteers whose mission is to promote, support and sustain the Mississippi Museum, is currently developing plans for the Mississippi Museum's 2019 Gala, with this year's theme being "Girls, Guitars, & Rocktail Bars." The Gala will celebrate the impact of women on music, and proceeds will benefit the music education initiatives of the Mississippi Museum. The event will take place on Friday, Nov. 1, at 6 p.m. at GRAMMY Museum Mississippi and will feature a reception, dinner and cocktails, live music, and a silent and live auction. Additional details regarding the 2019 Gala are forthcoming.
"I'm honored to be the first recipient of this award from the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi," said Pride. "And thankful to the many great American music artists before me that helped to pave the way for my success. I applaud the Museum for celebrating those artists and championing the importance of American music."
Encore Broadcast of American Masters - Charley Pride: I'm Just Me:
A special encore presentation of American Masters - Charley Pride: I'm Just Me airs Thursday, September 19 at 9 p.m. on PBS(check local listings) to coincide with the premiere of Country Music, a new eight-part, 16-hour film directed by Ken Burns, which features Charley Pride, premiering Sunday, September 15 through Wednesday, September 18, and Sunday, September 22 through Wednesday, September 25 at 8-10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). Additionally, the documentary is streaming at pbs.org/americanmasters and on the PBS apps.
American Masters - Charley Pride: I'm Just Me traces the improbable journey of Charley Pride, from his humble beginnings as a sharecropper's son on a cotton farm in segregated Sledge, Mississippi to his career as a Negro League baseball player and his meteoric rise as a trailblazing country music superstar. The new documentary reveals how Pride's love for music led him from the Delta to a larger, grander world. In the 1940s, radio transcended racial barriers, making it possible for Pride to grow up listening to and emulating Grand Ole Opry stars like Ernest Tubb and Roy Acuff. The singer arrived in Nashville in 1963 while the city roiled with sit-ins and racial violence. But with boldness, perseverance and undeniable musical talent, he managed to parlay a series of fortuitous encounters with music industry insiders into a legacy of hit singles, a Recording Academy "Lifetime Achievement Award" and a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The film includes original interviews with country music royalty, including Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker and Marty Stuart. It also includes several on-camera conversations between Pride and special guests, including Rozene Pride (his wife of 61 years), Willie Nelson, and other fellow musicians. The film also features many songs from his repertoire of classic country hits, along with more modern cuts like "Standing In My Way," from his latest album Music In My Heart, released in 2017. Watch the trailer below.
Charley Pride Tour Dates:
2019
Sep 20 - Isleta Resort & Casino / Albuquerque, N.M.
Sep 27 - Norsk Hostfest / Minot, N.D.
Oct 05 - Sugar Creek Casino / Hinton, Okla.
Oct 18 - Five Flags Center / Dubuque, Iowa
Nov 09 - Deadwood Mountain Grand / Deadwood, S.D.
