Son of country singer Charley Pride says agreement has been reached in will dispute

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - An East Texas police officer has reached a settlement in a dispute over his late father’s will.

Tyler Pride’s dad was Charley Pride, the first black superstar of country music. After Pride died in 2020, his biological son, who works as a Tyler police officer, said he contested his late father’s will in an effort to protect the place he and his family call home.

“I was always proud of him,” Pride said. “I’m proud to be a son and very proud of the heritage that I that I come from.”

Tyler’s life story began with an affair between his mother, a flight attendant, and country singer Charley Pride. DNA testing would prove that they were in fact father and son.

“I always knew who he was, not just that he was Charley Pride, but that he was my dad,” Pride said. “My mom never kept that from me. Which I was glad because it kind of let me know my history and my heritage and where I was from.”

And while Tyler was often considered the family secret, through the years Charley visited Tyler and frequently spoke with him by phone.

“We made the best of it through the years and had basically just a father-son relationship,” Pride said. “Ups and downs and fights and arguments and stuff, but for the most part, it was a lot of fun. Just watching his career and getting to bounce things off him and talk to him about my singing and stuff like that.”

Even after Tyler turned 18 and his father’s financial support obligations ended, Charley supported Tyler and his family by gifting them a home. But when the Country Music Hall of Fame inductee died from COVID-19 in 2020, Tyler said his dad’s widow and legal team tried to take the house away.

“This never was really about trying to tarnish anybody’s name or reputation or anything. It was simply me trying to protect the gift that he had given me and to take care of my family, my kids, and my wife. And literally fight to keep our home.”

Tyler says an agreement has been reached allowing his family to keep their home and move on.

“We’ve come to a resolution that we both have agreed to and so it’s done,” he said. “And we can basically just live our lives, move on, and I guess not have to deal with each other anymore. Unfortunately, that’s the way it ended up working out.”

Pride’s estate has yet to comment on the settlement, but did release the following comments last year.

“Over the years, Charley and I provided gifts and financial assistance to Tyler, but Charley never included Tyler as a beneficiary in his estate planning until 2020. Tyler does not have a valid claim so he has resorted to a hurtful smear campaign.”

Charley and Rozene Pride were married with kids of their own when the affair happened.

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