Kraig Pride is a popular singer and guitarist widely known as Carlton Pride. He rose to fame after founding the famous reggae band, Zion.
In addition, he is mostly known as the son of a famous American singer, Charley. He was also famous as a guitarist and professional baseball player. Following his father’s footsteps, Kraig decided to devote his life to music.
But what about now? What is Kraig doing now? Did he continue his musical journey? Scroll down to find more detail about Kraig’s personal life including info on his wiki, dating life, and more.
Who is Kraig Pride? His Early Life, Wiki, and Family
He was born in 1967 in Dallas, United States. Pride belongs to American nationality and has African ancestry. He was born to one of the greatest Musical artists Charley Pride and Rozene Cohran. Unfortunately, on December 12, 2020, his father died due to Covid-19.
Apart from that, he has two siblings, Dion Pride, and Angela Pride. His brother currently works as a songwriter. He plays many musical instruments as well. After years of dedication, Dion earned the title of the lead guitarist in his father’s band.
Further, his sister Angela is working as a businesswoman. As of now, she is married but she has kept privacy about her professional and personal life.
Kraig Pride’s Educational background
Talking about Kraig’s education, he studied at a local school in Dallas. He later joined Jesuit High school in Dallas. Pride actively participated in Extra–curricular activities during his high school. He played football, basketball, and ran track.
What did Kraig Pride do before getting into a musical career? How did start his journey?
Growing up, he was already familiar with a musical background as his father was a renowned music artist. He learned to play guitar at a very young and decided to move ahead in his musical career.
After he finished his Highschool, He began his career in radio, TV, films, and sound production.
Before entering the musical industry, he learned recording and studied sound engineering. After that, he worked with his father for a short time.
How did Kraig have to struggle during his early days because of his father?
Kraig was bullied by his friends during his childhood because of his father’s success. He was considered the son of whitest black man. Adding to this he said,
“Moving to Dallas, it was really bad for me because Dad played country music, and he was a black man. The black kids called me an Uncle Tom and an Oreo. The white kids called me ‘nigger,’ ” recalls Pride. “Growing up, I blamed my dad because I didn’t have a lot of peers.”
Kraig followed in his father’s footsteps
After working with his father as a sound engineer, he worked with other artists.
Dallas-born Craig moved to San Marcos, Texas to continue his musical journey. He formed a band name Zion with five other members and gave himself the alias, Carlton. His father supported him a lot and even performed a duet with him.
He also worked with renowned artist Bob Marley. Zion released several track records like Zion Reggae music, Dub Rockers, California Tracks, and many more.
How did Kraig overcome his drug addiction?
Kraig was involved in drug addiction before he gained popularity. However, he was able to overcome with it. He was able to cope with his addition because of his own dreams and Bob Marley’s music.
After that, he focused on his career and rest is history.
His legendary father had once changed his career path
Kraig’s father Charley Pride is a well-known American singer and guitarist. However, he was not always known for his musical career.
From an early age, Charley was interested in sports. He began to emerge as a talented baseball player at the age of 16. He then started playing in Iowa State League to professional games in Negro American League. Throughout his baseball career, he was injured numerous.
Around the time, he also used to perform music in a local nightclub to get some extra income. Coincidently, Chet Atkins heard his demonstration tape and he was impressed with Charley’s voice. After that, he got many opportunities and he signed a contract with RCA Victor.
In 1958, he also tried his hand at singing for the first time. Charley went to Sun Studio at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis to record a demo. Several takes were recorded on a song called “There’s My Baby (Walkin’),” a blatant rip-off of the Diamonds’ 1957 pop hit “The Stroll.”
In conclusion, his musical career began to take off which made him switch his career from a baseball player to a country music superstar.
Kraig Pride’s father Charley had an Extra Marital Affair
Charley was far from any kind of controversies and rumors until it was found that he was having a secret affair. For years, Charley was quiet about his second family. The secret which had been kept for so long was revealed after Charley’s death.
Charley passed away on December 12, 2020. After that, obituaries of the legend listed the survivors including his wife Rozene and their children Carlton, Dion, and Angela.
However, a new lawsuit filed in the Dallas County Probate Court in Texas has revealed that Pride had a fourth child from an extramarital and interracial relationship that was kept secret for decades.
So all in all, Kraig has a half-brother from his father’s extramarital affair.
Who was Kraig Pride’s stepmother?
Despite having affair, Charley was not married to his secret lover. Due to this, Kraig didn’t have a stepmother.
However, Charley had secret affair with Joyce Ann Tines for almost a decade. Joyce was a flight attendant on Braniff Airways. They met for the first time during a flight.
Even though Charley and Joyce were not married, they planned pregnancy together. On the other hand, Joyce was not ready for a baby.
Kraig’s Half Brother: Tyler Pride
Tyler Pride was born on July 19, 1979. He currently works as a police officer.
Back in 1992, when Tyler was only 13 years old, the Texas court confirmed that Tyler is the biological son of Charley Pride through a DNA test report. Tyler changed his surname from Tyler Tines to Tyler Pride as per the court order.
Court also ordered Charley to pay child support of $92,000 for Tyler until he turned 18. Charley frequently visited Tyler when he was a child.
Even though Tyler was proved as Kraig’s half-brother, they didn’t have any close bonding.
Death of Charley and case against Pride family
On December 12, 2020, Kraig lost his father. Charley passed away due to Covid-19. Following this incident, Tyler sued the Pride family on 20th May 2021 for omitting Charley’s will.
Tyler tried to use his relationship with his father for money which saddened Rozene, Charley’s wife. Explaining the reason why she was disappointed, Rozene said to The Dallas Morning News,
“It is heartbreaking to see Tyler try to tarnish Charley’s reputation and break Charley’s estate plan in the hope of getting more money for himself.”
Is Kraig Pride Married? Who is his wife?
Charlie Pride’s son Kraig remains relatively secretive when it comes to his personal life. Thus there is not much info available about him having any girlfriend or spouse for the matter.
That being said, there are a lot of sources that claim he is a married man. Nevertheless, until and unless he comes forwards and reveals the information, we can’t say for sure.
How much is Kraig Pride’s net worth?
If we agree with online tabloids, it is estimated that he has a net worth of $3 million.
Carlton has amassed a significant amount of riches throughout his musical journey. His father’s net worth was about $40 Million at the time of his death. Moreover, he also got a substantial amount of money from his father’s will which is yet to be estimated.
