Three Prominent African American Country Singers
by Alyce Powell
Country music is not a genre which is usually associated with the Black community in the United States of America. To think that there are no African American country singers who have enjoyed success would be mistaken, though. Over the years, there have been a few shining examples of Black artists making a success of this type of music; this article will take a look at three of them.
The name of Charley Pride continues to resonate through country music to this day, with the singer's peak period in the 1970s seeing him become RCA's best selling artist since the great Elvis Presley. Pride, a former professional baseball player, was only the second African American artist to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. He is still highly regarded by music fans across the world, too.
Pride had begun his working life as a baseball player, but an injury contributed to a decline in his abilities in this area, and he became a musician instead in the early 1960s. His first recordings were undertaken at the famous Sun Studios in Nashville, and he signed for the RCA label in 1965. The late 1960s and early 70s would see Pride attain national fame in the United States, with a run of big charting hits, including 'Just Between You and Me'.
This star has sold an eye-watering 70 million records, an amazing total. As well as his musical career, Pride also retains strong links with baseball, and is particularly associated with the Texas Rangers. He also sang the National Anthem of the United States, the Star Spangled Banner, at the Super Bowl of 2010, and although he would become a member of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, he was not the first African American to do so.
The first Black musician to be inducted into this genre of music's most venerable institution was DeFord Bailey, a grandson of slaves who was born into poverty in 1899. Known as a harmonica and blues harp artist, rather than a singer as such, his contribution to this genre of music is immense. A proponent of country blues, his musical career stretched from the 1920s into the 1940s, sadly, after that, he went back to shining shoes for a living.
Regarded as something of a 'lost legend' of the genre, Bailey had to battle against racial prejudice to get his music heard. Although not necessarily that well known these days, his contribution to the genre cannot be overstated. Thankfully, before his death in 1982, he had been remembered and his career celebrated and commemorated.
Darius Rucker has enjoyed a string of number one hits during his solo career, which followed on from his time as the vocalist in alternative rock outfit Hootie and the Blowfish. He moved away from the folk influenced style of Hootie, to an outright country sound recently, and has enjoyed huge success as a result.
It can therefore be seen that <A href="http://www.hellocountrygirl.com">African American country singers</A> are more common than many people realize. They have also exerted a positive, creative effect on the music. Hopefully their legacy will live for many years to come.
You can visit the website <a href="http://www.hellocountrygirl.com">www.hellocountrygirl.com</a> for more helpful information about Three Of The Best Known African American Country Singers
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New Unique Article!
Title: Three Prominent African American Country Singers
Author: Alyce Powell
Email: nathanwebster335@live.com
Keywords: music, songs, artists, records,entertainment
Word Count: 524
Category: Music
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