After 50 years as a recording artist, Charley Pride can add another feather to the cap of his Hall of Fame career: the Recording Academy will honor Charley with its 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Academy will honor Charley with a ceremony and live tribute concert on Tuesday, July 11, 2017, at The Beacon Theatre in New York City. PBS will air the show, Grammy Salute to Music Legends, at a later date.
Other 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award winners include Jimmie Rogers, who is known as the âFather of Country Music,â as well as Shirley Caesar, Ahmad Jamal, Nina Simone, Sly Stone and the Velvet Underground. Dwight Yoakam will salute Jimmie Rodgers with a live performance at the show.
Charley, a three-time Grammy winner, is considered country musicâs first African-American superstar. He signed to RCA Victor in 1967 and earned a string of No. 1 hits, including âAll I Have to Offer You (Is Me),â â(Iâm So) Afraid of Losing You Again,â âKiss an Angel Good Morninâ,â âAmazing Loveâ and many more.
Charley won the CMAâs Entertainer of the Year award in 1971 and Top Male Vocalist in 1971 and 1972. Charley was the first African-American to perform on the Grand Ole Opry stage and he became the Opryâs first African-American member in 1993.
The Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates performers who have made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording. The recipients are determined by vote of the Recording Academyâs national board of trustees.
Congrats, Charley.