Being the child of a celebrity is not always easy; the constant exposure to the public eye, the weight of expectation and sharing a parent with the rest of the world can be challenging.
But Dion Pride, son of the first black superstar of country music Charley Pride, doesn’t have a bad word to say about his childhood.
“Growing up in his house, under his roof, was so inspiring and such a blessing, because my dad truly, to me, was a greater man than his success,” Pride said.
“With all of the success that he had, he never had an ego. He was always the same person, so humble, such a good man.
“We were very close. One thing I enjoyed doing with him, every time he put out a new album, before the album came out he would come home from Nashville with the session and say ‘let’s go get in the car’.
“And we’d go get in the car and we’d listen to his new album. And I was so honoured because he always wanted my opinion, he always wanted to know what I thought of the songs.”
Those happy childhood memories are part of the reason Pride is now touring the world with a show paying tribute to his father, who died in 2020 at 86 years of age.
Charley Pride had 36 number one singles, 31 gold albums, as well as four platinum and one quadruple platinum, with over 70 million albums sold.
Pride, who has earned his own place in country music as a singer and guitarist, is uniquely placed to deliver Charley’s music, having learned from his father throughout his childhood.
While promoters were keen for Pride to perform his own music during the show alongside Charley’s songs, he decided not to.
“I don’t think that’s appropriate… people are coming to hear me do my father’s songs, so I’m dead set on doing that,” he said.
“I had a song in 2010 that I released… and it was number one for six straight weeks on Independent Country. I thought about doing that, but nobody has heard that song here.
“And here’s the capper; I love doing my dad’s music. I want people to hear the songs that they know, I want them clapping along, singing along.”
Featuring original Charley Pride touring musicians Ronnie Miller, Danny Hutchins and Mark Kalson, the Australian leg of Dion Pride’s world tour comes to Geelong Arts Centre on Thursday, May 8.
