Charley Pride was a famous country music singer who spent important years of his life in Montana, even though he was born in Sledge, Mississippi. He was born on March 18 (most recent biographies give 1934, some older Montana sources say 1938), and grew up in a large, poor family where his parents picked cotton, but he loved both baseball and country music.

As a young man, Pride first chased his dream of being a professional baseball player. He pitched in the Negro American League and for several minor league teams. In 1960 he moved to Montana to play baseball in the Pioneer League and later for a team in East Helena, where his manager sometimes paid him extra to sing the national anthem before games.

Montana is also where his music career really began. Pride lived with his wife and children first in Helena and later in Great Falls during the 1960s. He sang in local clubs with a group called the Night Hawks and as a solo singer; at first, show posters didn't use his picture, but once people in Montana heard him sing, they accepted him and came back just to hear his voice, even though he was one of very few Black residents in the area at that time.

From Montana, Pride traveled to Nashville and signed a recording contract. Over his long career he had more than 50 Top-10 country songs, including over 25-30 number-one hits, and sold tens of millions of records worldwide. His biggest hit, "Kiss an Angel Good Morning," helped him win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year awards in 1971, and he was later inducted into the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Even after he became a star, Charley Pride often said that Montana felt like home, because it was the place where people first cheered for both his baseball and his singing. He and his family kept close ties to the state, and two of his children were born there. Pride died on December 12, 2020, at age 86, but in Montana he is still remembered as a trail-blazing Black country singer who got his big start singing in small clubs in Helena and Great Falls.