Grand Ole Opry member Charley Pride photo courtesy of Absolute Publicity; Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson photo courtesy of Facebook.com/DwayneJohnson.

Dwayne Johnson, also known as “The Rock,” is set to star and produce a biopic about the life of country music star Charley Pride, reports Variety.com. Dany Garcia, Randy Jackson and Charley’s manager, John Daines, will also have producer credit, in association with Sony ATV Music Publishing.

Charley Pride is one of 11 children born to Mississippi sharecroppers. He has charted more than three dozen No. 1 singles, sold more than 70 million records, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. He is also the only black member of the Grand Ole Opry. He is best known for his 1971 song “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’,” which was No. 1 on the country charts and reached No. 21 on the pop charts.

Charley was a baseball player before his music career took off, pitching for teams in the American Negro League and other minor league teams. He also served in the military. In 2008, he and his brother, Mack ‘The Knife’ Pride, were ‘drafted’ by Major League Baseball along with 28 other Negro League players as recognition of their on-field achievements and historical relevance. Charley went to the Texas Rangers. Two years later, he became a special investor and minority owner of the team.

Charley announced Dwayne’s involvement with the film during an interview with the Telegraph-Journal of New Brunswick, Canada last Thursday. Originally, actor Terrence Howard was slated to play Charley, but studio changes delayed and ultimately shelved the Howard film. “Terrence is no doubt a more in-depth actor academically, but Dwayne is such a force on screen,” said Charley. “It startled me a little at first, but he flew down to Dallas and spent a day with me just sitting, talking recently. Continue Reading

ShareThis

Tracy Lawrence photo courtesy of Rocky Comfort Records.

That swine flu virus that’s tapping out vaccine supplies and landing people in the hospital across the U.S. has hit Nashville. Music City ran through its first shipment of the vaccine in a scant two days, and even before that, Tracy Lawrence became one of country music’s first victims.

“For five or six weeks, I was pretty sick,” he told The Norman Transcript in Oklahoma. “I had H1N1 and pneumonia. It hit me a little harder because I’m asthmatic. It knocked me down pretty hard.”

Continue Reading

ShareThis