Funeral Arrangements for Charley Pride Announced
Our hearts go out to the Pride family.
Funeral arrangements and a TV remembrance for the late Charley Pride were announced Monday evening (December 14), following the country trailblazer’s death due to complications from COVID-19 last week.
A private wake and memorial for will be held for Pride in Dallas this week, with future plans for a public celebration of life to be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to The Pride Scholarship at Jesuit College Preparatory School, St. Phillips School and Community center, any local food bank, or the charity of your choice.
Meanwhile, CMT will air CMT Remembers Charley Pride December 16 at 8 p.m. ET in tribute to the genre’s first black superstar.
The 30-minute CMT event will trace Pride’s barrier-breaking life and career, from his childhood in Mississippi to his CMA Entertainer of the Year Win in 1971, and on through his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Archival interviews and performance footage from Pride will be featured throughout, along with interviews from the hit maker’s peers and admirers, including Darius Rucker, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Tim McGraw, Shania Twain, and more, plus members of the Pride family. The program will also re-air December 17 (9 a.m. ET) and December 19 (12 p.m. ET).
Charley Pride passed away Saturday, December 12, 2020, in Dallas, Texas. He was 86, and had just been honored with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the CMA Awards in November. Fans and fellow artists have struggled with grief over the iconic artist’s passing, after COVID-19 had previously claimed the lives of country artists Joe Diffie and John Prine.
