Country music singer Charley Pride and wife reveal secret of their 40-year marriage

Jet, Feb 10, 1997

When famed country singer Charley Pride recently celebrated his 30th anniversary in show business during a concert and ceremony in Nashville, his wife, Rozene, was right by his side. She was by his side long before he became the world's first and only Black superstar country performer. She was there, Pride jokes, when they only had "five bucks between us." He adds, "She may have had more because she is so frugal," he laughs.

The happy couple, who shares a strong love for each other and a love for country music, has been by each other's side for 40 years.

During a recent interview at their spacious Spanish-style ranch home in Dallas, the couple, with humor and candor, revealed the secret of their 40-year marriage.

"The secret to my long marriage is my wife puts up with me," Pride jokes, "Or we put up with each other you might say."

Becoming serious, the three-time Grammy Award-winning country star added, "We've never fought over money or nothing. It was never yours is mine and mine is mine, that kind of thing."

They also believes in the philosophy that a couple who works together, stays together. While he is the performer onstage, his wife shines behind the scenes and helps to coordinate his fan club and tour activities and many business interests. Mrs. Pride serves on the board of director of The First Texas Bank in Dallas, which Pride owns. The bank has $134 million in assets and is No. 7 on Black Enterprise's list of top financial companies.

"She runs the show," Pride laughs. "She is a quiet type and does not seek any kind of glory or anything like that."

Born to sharecroppers in Sledge, MS, Pride has won a worldwide following of fans with his many hits including his 1966 debut, The Snakes Crawl At Night. Kiss An Angel Good Morning remains his signature tune. Over the past 30 years, Pride has remained one of the top 20 best-selling country artists of all time. He has recorded 36 No. 1 hit singles and has sold more than 35 million copies. On RCA Records, Pride is second in sales only to the legendary Elvis Presley.

Pride met his wife, who was then a cosmetologist, in Memphis where Pride started his music career in the '50s as a baseball player with the Negro American League's Memphis Red Sox. Pride used to sing and play guitar on the team bus between ball parks and would often join various bands onstage as he and the team traveled throughout the country.

Soon after meeting his wife-to-be, Pride was drafted into the Army. "I got to thinking I didn't want nobody else being with her. I went bank home for Christmas and married her." They were married in a brief civil ceremony in Hernando, MS. The couple has three adult children, Kraig, Dion and Angela, and two grandchildren, Carlton and Malachi.

Mrs. Pride says part of the secret to their long marriage is that they give each other space to pursue other hobbies or interests. "He golfs; I don't," she explains. "So that's his time with the guys. I do what I want I used to bowl when the kids were at home, but now that all of the kids are grown, I travel move. And we do a lot of things together. We travel together a lot now that the kids are grown."

Noting how they were together before Pride won fame and fortune as a world-class entertainer, Mrs. Pride says, "There are a lot of couples who start out like that and then when one or the other makes it, they tend to separate. Maybe part of our secret has been that we have worked together, and we each have our area. For example, I can't sing, and I have no desire to be in the public eye. I am perfectly happy working in the background and doing what I can for him to help him. Maybe that's one of the reasons that we've been able to stay together: I have no desire to be out front. It does not excite me."

They have a few words of advice for newleweds. "Communicate," stresses Mrs. Pride. "Find time to talk to each other. Be willingto work at your differences." She adds, "Be different, but appreciate each other's differences."

Pride notes, "We didn't try to mold each other over again. A lot of people get married and say, `I see that I'll straighten that little quirk out when I get married.' We didn't have that."

He adds, "You have to learn how to not just be lovers and man and wife, but you have to be friends."

Mrs. Pride admits that they are not the world's ideal lovebirds who never have disagreements. "Of course, we disagree at times because we both think. If there are two people in the house and they don't ever disagree, somebody isn't thinking," she says. "I will admit I am very strong-willed, and so is he."

As the first Black country singer, Pride confronted racism from Whites and has been misunderstood by Blacks.

He remembers people, even in his family, saying, "Why are you singing White folks' music?"

"I didn't go into country music to break down barriers," he says, explaining that he only wanted to singthe music that he grew up listening to and loved. "I tried to be myself in spite of." Pride describes himself as an outspoken, proud, talented American.