Garth Brooks remembers Charley Pride and the song they shared: 'You thank your lucky stars'

“Mountain of Love.” “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’.” “Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone.”

On stage at the National Museum of African American Music, Garth Brooks sat with an acoustic guitar and revisited those songs — all made famous by the late Charley Pride — as vividly as his own work.

But in Brooks' estimation, as much he loved these songs, some of them were out of his league. He marveled at the vocal range Pride possessed on "Roll On Mississippi," and raised the key so he could hit the low notes.

"You try and sing his stuff," he said. "Good luck, Hoss."

It was a reverent, funny and highly musical Monday evening in Nashville as Brooks and the Recording Industry Association of America gathered to remember Pride — country music's first Black superstar — and present his family with a lifetime achievement award. 

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Pride died in 2020 at age 86, leaving a legacy that includes 29 No. 1 hits, induction in the Country Music Hall of Fame, and global recognition as a trailblazer for Black artists in country music.

His son Dion Pride accepted the award, and said that his father's accomplishments were a byproduct of the "sheer love" he had for country music.

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"He just loved what he did," he said. "...But for me as a son, I'm more impressed with the man. My father was a great, great man."

While Brooks showered praise on many of Pride's classic songs, there was a recent one that was uniquely personal to him: "Where The Cross Don't Burn," which he and Pride recorded together three months before his death.

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As Brooks has explained before, the collaboration came after he thought he'd lost the chance to work with Pride forever. He'd seen a false report of the singer's passing on social media, and after learning it wasn't true, immediately gave him a call. 

"Cross" was included on Brooks' 2020 album, "Fun." Three weeks after its release, Pride passed away.

"If Charley Pride was standing here today, it would mean the same to me," Brooks told The Tennessean before he took the stage.

"But I'm gonna be honest with you... when you get the opportunity to (collaborate), and then so quickly after it, you don't? You do sit there, and you thank your lucky stars. You feel like when you tell your children, your grandchildren, some of the coolest things you got to do in this business? There's no way you can tell that list without Charley."

He remembered the man he got to know at Country Music Hall of Fame events, as they were frequently seated next to each other. Pride would give him a tap and break into the opening bars of Brooks' "That Summer," and he'd always remember his birthday and astrological sign — as he did with all of his friends. 

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"Where the Cross Don't Burn" tells the story of a friendship between "a white boy and a Black old man," and Brooks said he loves how the lyrics evolve to "a young boy and a kind old man" in the final chorus.

"The answer to everything always is love," he said. "It is patience. It's listening. It's tolerance." 

"And there is not a man that walked the walk," he added, pointing to an image of Pride projected on the wall, "better than this cat right here."

Brooks' conversation with songwriter, author and Vanderbilt University faculty member Alice Randall also touched on Pride's perseverance and courage.

"I would love for you to make sure we understand this whole statement, not just half of it," he told the audience. "It didn't matter that Charley Pride was Black. It mattered so much that Charley Pride was Black. Both statements. In the places when it shouldn't have mattered, it didn't. And when it should have mattered, this man was the most proud of that. That's among many things that made me love him, and made me want to be more like Charley Pride."