Do What You Do:

Spotlight on Charley Pride

Some things come naturally,
Like a spider spinning silk
And natural tendencies shine.
No matter how you hide--
Tuck it deep in the trunk of life
Drape it in black-out shades
And it still illuminates
Natural energy burns naturally,
It cannot be dimmed.
No matter how you contain it--
The force that exists naturally
Will be, however it chooses to be
Strong willed, long lived...
An uncontrollable light

Charley Pride was born in 1938 and grew up to be one of the few successful black artists in the country music genre. Pride was the first black artist to ever to play at the Grand Ole Opry.  He would go on to become the first black inductee of the Grand Ole Opry stage show in 1993. Pride taught himself to play the guitar at 14 years old. Though his first dream was to play baseball (which he did for some time with the Negro American League), Pride kept up with his music while traveling with the team by joining several bands onstage. After signing with RCA, Pride sold 36 #1 hits. Listed as one of the top twenty best selling country music artists of all time, Pride has only been bested in sales by Elvis Presley. Pride has since been inducted in to the Country Music Hall of Fame, the highest honor possible in Country Music  [1, 2].

Charley Pride's first #1 hit

References

1. "Charley Pride Biography". Charley Pride Official Website; visited 2014
2. "Charley Pride." Biography; visited 2014