Who was the first Black performer at the Grand Old Opry
The pioneers of country music were Black, something that racists would never want to hear, or would go red in the face arguing about, but it’s the truth.
Born from the Deep South alongside the blues, the origin of country music has its roots amongst the slaves, which is a fact on many levels; for instance, the banjo, one of the key instruments of country, evolved from the West African akonting, brought across to America by slaves.
The storytelling style of country lyrics is reminiscent of field songs, often used as a way to covertly share information and tales, and country music’s spiritual edge is undeniably an evolution of gospel, simply set to a different sound.
At its core, country has been considered ‘hillbilly’ music, or farming music, as it’s supposed to be music made out in the fields, made cheaply and played around a fire by groups of workers. It’s the music of labourers and a true working-class genre, so as it came from the South in America, Black voices were essential pioneers in shaping what country music came to be.
However, as quick as it started, it was co-opted; much like how the history of blues music was whitewashed into radio-friendly rock and roll, country music was quickly overtaken not just by white artists, but by a subset of racist, Republican artists. There’s a stereotype nowadays of country being the realm of gun-slinging conservatives, with the genre having come into trouble again and again due to lyrical content including racist, sexist and misogynistic undertones, in both classic tunes and amongst modern stars.
As the Black origin of country seems to be increasingly erased or ignored, it has led to Black country fans feeling increasingly uncomfortable. When Beyoncé turned to country recently, one of her fans, Rachel Berry, shared her experience of being a Black country fan in the present, stating, “Before you buy tickets to a show, have you ever looked up the name of the town/city and then ‘racism’? I have,” adding, “I have felt uneasy walking through a crowd of tailgaters and seeing Confederate flags flying high from their trucks.”
Providing a further example of the enduring racism that lingers in our modern world, including in the world of art and culture, country music still has a whitewashing problem; however, while still fighting against that, it’s important to celebrate the pioneers who broke through.
Who was the first Black performer at the Grand Ole Opry?
If the genre has a Mecca, it has to be the Nashville venue Grand Ole Opry, which was founded in 1928 and shared regular broadcasts of live country performances, becoming the place for its proliferation, and sure, it took too long for a Black artist to stand on that stage, but in the 1960s, one did, so that many others could follow.
On January 7th, 1967, history was made at the Opry when Charley Pride was a featured performer, making him the first ever Black artist to make the bill of the iconic venue.
His third single, ‘Just Between You and Me’, was a hit, and while his others had gained moderate attention, this one broke through onto the mainstream country charts, landing at number nine on the Hot Country Songs chart and bringing his name into the conversation.
It was a momentous time in American history: the 1960s saw the Civil Rights Act brought in, officially outlawing any discrimination based on race, which didn’t fix everything, obviously, as no law can truly undo the beliefs that still linger, but it made some change, and Pride’s invite to be a featured artist proves that. Afterwards, his career went from strength to strength, wherein between 1969 to 1975, he was the top-selling artist for RCA Records, outselling Elvis Presley.
