During the turbulent civil rights era, Charley Pride overcame issues of poverty and race to become country music's first and only black superstar. Born a Mississippi sharecropper's son, he dreamed of becoming a major league baseball player to escape the cotton fields but only made it as far as the Negro American League. When he turned to music in the mid-1960s, Pride launched a recording career that would span 40 years with sales of more than 70 million albums. On RCA Records, he is second only to Elvis Presley. On his way to 29 No. 1 hits with songs like ""Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone"" and ""Kiss an Angel Good Morning,"" Pride dealt with racism, survived a mid-air collision and fought his own battle with manic depression.

• Mark Hall

• Brad Paisley
• George Jones
• Tammy Wynette