Country music legend Charley Pride is including Red Deer on a spring tour.

He’s slated to perform at the Enmax Centrium on May 23rd.

The Country Music Hall of Famer and Grammy winner has a catalogue of chart topping songs including Kiss An Angel Good Morning, Mountain of Love, Crystal Chandelier and Kaw-Liga to mention a very few of his more than 36 number one hits.

This past month, Pride was honoured with the release of Neal McCoy’s Pride: A Tribute to Charley Pride: Deluxe Edition.

The album is a 13-cut CD that pays tribute to McCoy’s mentor.

In the early 80s, Pride gave McCoy the opportunity to open his shows, eventually earning the young singer his own record deal and subsequently, a series of hit singles.

As Pride told McCoy all those years ago, “If you put on a great show and be nice to people, you’ll last a long time in this business.”

Pride’s longevity as an artist speaks to his ability to connect to his audiences. His shows have a laid-back, relaxed feel.

And he’s never wavered from what he does best – classic, traditional country.

Born to poor sharecroppers, one of 11 kids in Sledge, Mississippi, Pride has been described as ‘a timeless everyman.’

He enjoys the respect of his musical peers and the adoration of millions. He’s had a continual presence in country music for decades, and to date, he’s sold some 70 million records.

Interestingly, music wasn’t what he initially had his sights set on for a career. Baseball was an early passion, but his natural gift as a singer would surface from time to time during those early years as well.

He unofficially launched his music career in the late 1950s as a ballplayer singing and playing guitar on the team bus between ballparks. “Some of the guys would like it, some didn’t,” he recalls.

After a tryout with the New York Mets, Pride decided to return to his Montana home via Nashville. It proved a key moment in his life’s direction, as it was there he met Jack Johnson. Upon hearing the singer perform, Johnson promptly promised a management contract.

A year later, Pride returned to Nashville and was introduced to producer Jack Clement.

When Clement heard Pride’s renditions of a handful of songs, he asked Pride to cut two songs in two hours. Pride agreed and The Snakes Crawl at Night and Atlantic Coastal Line were recorded.

Three months later, Pride’s demo landed in the hands of RCA Records head Chet Atkins who signed him to the label. Pride’s first single hit the airwaves in early 1966. Before long, The Snakes Crawl at Night was climbing the charts with Before I Met You close behind.

Between 1969, when he first hit number one on the singles chart with All I Have to Offer You (Is Me) and 1984, when he commanded the top spot again with Every Heart Should Have One, Price has scored more than 36 number one singles.

Meanwhile, dozens of his chart toppers now stand as modern classics. Kiss An Angel Good Morning went on to be a million-selling crossover single and helped Pride land Country Music Association Awards as Entertainer of the Year in 1971 and Top Male Vocalist in 1971 and 1972.

Other memorable standards include Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone?, Mississippi Cotton Picking Delta Town, Someone Loves You Honey, When I Stop Leaving I’ll Be Gone, Burgers and Fries and You’re So Good When You’re Bad to name a few.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.ca.

-Weber