In 1971, Charley Pride added another chart-topping success to his already remarkable run in country music.
His single, “I’d Rather Love You,” climbed to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, continuing a streak that helped make Pride one of the genre’s biggest stars during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Released as the title track from his then forthcoming album, the song showed of his smooth, deep voice and emotional storytelling style. The ballad, written by songwriter Johnny Duncan, shares a simple, but meaningful message about choosing love, even if it means risking heartbreak.
By the time the song reached the top of the charts, Pride had already established himself as one of country music’s most influential voices. Starting with his breakout hit, “Just Between You and Me,” in the mid-1960s, he went on to record dozens of chart-topping hits, making him one of the best-selling country artists of the era.
Pride’s success was particularly groundbreaking in a time when there were very few Black performers in mainstream country music. He broke down barriers with his long run of hit songs, and gained a massive following across the country.
“A lot of people will say, ‘How does it feel to be the Jackie Robinson of country music?’ Or, ‘How does it feel to be the first colored country singer?’ ‘How does it feel to be the first Negro country singer?’ … I don’t feel no different,” said Pride in a 2016 interview.
“What I believe is that with the success of Jackie Robinson— and my career was right smack-dab in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, with Martin Luther King Jr. and all that … The difference with Jackie Robinson and Charley Pride is, he was specifically picked to do what he basically did, to break the barriers … I’m here by choice. Nobody sat me down and said, ‘Go sing country music.’ I’m here by choice, and there is a difference … When I walked on that stage, they didn’t care if I was green. That’s what I believe, [and] I think it worked.”
“I’d Rather Love You” became one of a total of 25 chart-topping singles over the course of his decades-long career. In 2000, Pride was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, an achievement which acknowledged him as one of the pioneers of genre.
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