Daniel O’Donnell: Country legend Charley Pride will never be forgotten in Ireland

O’Donnell, who recorded a version of Crystal Chandeliers with the US singer, said his death at the weekend was a “very, very sad loss”.

The Grammy award winning star died on Saturday, aged 86, following Covid-19 related complications.

He was one of the top international singing stars who regularly toured Northern Ireland during the Troubles years.

“I loved Charley’s music from my earliest memory,” O’Donnell told BBC Radio Ulster’s ‘Good Morning Ulster’ programme.

“I was lucky enough then to get to know him when I started singing myself. He was a lovely man.”

The Donegal-born performer said Pride “loved Ireland” and “came religiously north and south”.

He said: “We loved him in Ireland,”

Charley Pride was born in Sledge, Mississippi in 1934, and was eventually inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000.

Before embarking on a career in music, he served in the US army, played baseball and worked in a smelting plant.

As a regular performer at the same shows as Pride in the US, O’Donnell said he “can’t begin to tell you the joy” he felt the first time he saw their names appear together on a bill.

“He was fantastic, he wasn’t one of these people that had everything rehearsed, he just loved the music.

“He belied his age really and up until recently he was in great form,” O’Donnell added.

A number of other country music stars have also paid tribute to Pride since news emerged of his death

Dolly Parton said she was “heartbroken”, while Billy Ray Cyrus described Pride as a “legend and true trailblazer”.

Closer to home, Dominic Kirwan said he once had the “great honour” to tour with Pride in 1990, describing the singer as a “true gentleman of country music”.