Charley Frank Pride (18 March 1934-12 December 2020) was an American country singer and former baseball player. Born in Sledge, Mississippi to a family of poor sharecroppers, he played baseball in the "Negro leagues" and served in the US Army from 1956 to 1958, and he moved to Helena, Montana in 1960 to work in construction while still playing baseball. He recalled, "Montana is a very conservative state ... I stood out like a neon. But once they let you in, you become a Montanan. When the rumor was that I was leaving. They kept saying, 'we will let you in, you can't leave.'" He moved to Great Falls in 1967, as his music career began to take off, and he required close access to an airport. In 1971, he released his biggest hit, "Kiss an Angel Good Mornin", and he was named country music's top male vocalist in 1971 and 1972. He continued to have a very successful career into the 1970s and 1980s, and his November 1976 concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland broke the effective touring concert ban by the IRA and Ulster loyalists, while his song "Crystal Chandeliers" was seen as a unity song amid the height of "the Troubles".
Pride professed to not align himself with any political party, but he performed at Ronald Reagan's 1981 inauguration, greatly admired Gerald Ford, acquainted himself with the Bushes, and was photographed with Jerry Falwell at the 1984 Republican National Convention, although he also appeared at the 1984 Democratic National Convention to sing the national anthem.