Pride gets Mississippi’s lifetime achievement award

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Arts Commission is giving its lifetime achievement award to country music legend Charley Pride next month.
Pride will receive the award at the 2008 Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts on Feb. 8.
Pride, born in Sledge, Miss., has sold more than 70 million records in his career.
He is best known for his million-selling crossover single “Kiss an Angel Good Morning,” recorded in 1971. The song earned Pride the Country Music Association’s Top Male Vocalist and the prestigious Entertainer of the Year awards in 1972.
The only artist to sell more albums at RCA Records is fellow Mississippian Elvis Presley.
Pride played baseball for the American Negro League and joins the Texas Rangers for workouts during spring training.
Other 2008 recipients are Natasha Trethewey of Gulfport, for Literary Excellence; Lallah Miles Perry of Jackson, for Artistic Excellence; Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson for Leadership in the Arts; and Emma McCain of Meridian, for Arts Patron.
Published in The Messenger 1.7.08

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