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©Stars and StripesFrankfurt, West Germany, June, 1967: Country music star Charley Pride poses for photos as he's interviewed during a tour of U.S. bases in Europe. The son of Mississippi sharecroppers, Pride dreamed of a career in baseball and played in the Negro Leagues. After an unsuccessful tryout with the New York Mets in the mid-1960s he quit the game and moved to Nashville; by 1971, he had several gold records and was one of country music's top performers. In 1993 he was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry, and in 2000 he became the Country Music Hall of Fame's first Black inductee. Charley Pride died at age 86 on Saturday, December 12, 2020 of complications from COVID-19.

RELATED MATERIAL: Stars and Stripes' 1967 interview with Charley Pride.