The number of Black artists currently surging into country music’s mainstream is unquestionably unprecedented; however, Black artists’ current success in country music is not.
Country music is full of amateur athletes who dreamed of playing in the NFL, MLB or NHL. Here are 11 who gave up a professional athlete's paycheck for the dream of making country music.
Darius Rucker has teamed up with Neal McCoy for a new version of the 1971 Charley Pride smash hit "Kiss an Angel Good Morning". The song is part of a tribute album to Charley Pride that McCoy is putting out called PRIDE: A Tribute to Country Charley Pride, due out September 24.