Country musician Charley Pride will take the stage Sunday to kick off the 23rd annual Jefferson City Cosmopolitan Club Tom Henke Golf Classic.
The golf tournament will take place Monday at Eagle Knoll Golf Course in Hartsburg.
"I'm looking forward to having a good time and helping a great cause," Pride told the News Tribune. "Tom and I are good friends, and I'm glad I finally get a chance to come up that way."
The Tom Henke Golf Classic supports the Special Learning Center and the Jefferson City Cosmopolitan Club, which will donate funds toward diabetes education and resources.
"Over the past 23 years, we have donated over $950,000 to the SLC and have raised total proceeds of $1.3 million," said Jane Holtsman, co-organizer for the Golf Classic. "This event is meaningful because not only does it help two great causes, but attendees will have an opportunity for a great evening with Charley Pride and other sports celebrities during the tournament."
Pride released his most recent album, "Music in My Heart," this year, and at age 79, he is just as eager to perform.
"The people are what keep me going," Pride said. "There are times when fans yell out, 'Charley, you still got it,' and that's a good feeling."
Pride signed with RCA Records in 1966 during a time of racial tension, but he didn't let that stop his success. At the time, he was known as the first black country singer. Now, more than 50 years later, he is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, has been inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame and has earned several other prestigious rewards.
Throughout his journey in the country music industry, Pride said, he has witnessed some changes in the style of music artists are producing.
"They are just moving with the times, I guess. But I am more of a traditionalist, growing up to people like Bill Monroe of the Bluegrass Boys and Minnie Pearl," Pride said. "Don't get me wrong, I like all good music and songs, but I am a traditionalist."
Pride named Earl Arnold, David Cobb and Alan Jackson as some of his favorite artists, but he mostly credits his style to the artists with whom he grew up listening.
"These days, I'm singing to four or five generations of people, with the oldest person I believe being 105 years old," he laughed. "I get a lot of the grandkids who say they remember their parents listening to my songs, and they just became addicted over time."
Pride will perform at the Firley YMCA at 525 Ellis Blvd. in Jefferson City. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. General admission tickets, which went for $80, were sold out by Thursday evening. For more information, call 573-552-5814.