Jimmie Allen Shades Country Peers Refusing to Pay Tribute to Charley Pride

Like many across the country music industry, Jimmie Allen was hit with a gut punch after the news [...]

By Kyle Phillippi

Like many across the country music industry, Jimmie Allen was hit with a gut punch after the news of Charley Pride's passing was announced over the weekend. Known as the first Black country musician to make it, Allen, and many others, turned to Pride as inspiration for carrying forward in their careers and following his footsteps. In the wake of his passing, the Delaware-born singer has turned to his peers, calling out those who haven't paid any final respects to the late musician after he died at the age of 86 due to complications from COVID-19.

"What's bothering me is, I've seen so many country artists make posts about other country artists and legends we have lost the last few years," Allen began his tweet on Monday evening. "But some of them have said NOTHING about the legend, trailblazer, Opry member, ACM, CMA, Grammy winner, Country Hall of Fame icon, Charley Pride." Since his passing, many artists have expressed their thoughts and prayers to Pride's family and have paid their respects. Among those include Scotty McCreery and Chris Young, who dedicated their Opry performances to the late singer. Luke Bryan also shouted out the trailblazer, as did Darius Rucker, who applauded him for destroying barriers in his career.

It's those that haven't said anything, though, that has ticked off Allen. Meanwhile, the "Best Shot" singer gave the most emotional send-off to the music icon with an 18-minute video dedicated to the "legend." He credited his music career to Pride, someone his father introduced him to as a young teenager. "There was finally someone that looked like me in every genre that I knew about," he went on to say.

Allen hasn't been the only one who has spoken out about Pride's passing, though for different reasons. Fellow country superstar, Maren Morris, turned her attention to the Country Music Awards, which were held in November and featured Pride's final performance, which happened to be alongside Allen. Morris didn't want to jump to conclusions but suggested that if Pride's COVID-19 case was a result of the indoor awards show being held, "we should all be outraged." Since then, the CMA released a statement saying that all protocols were followed correctly, with Pride showing a negative result before his performance and again, multiple times, after getting back to Texas.

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