Charlie Rich

Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932 – July 25, 1995) was an American country singer. His eclectic style of music also blended influences from rockabilly, jazz, blues, soul, and gospel.

In the later part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname the Silver Fox. He is perhaps best remembered for a pair of 1973 hits, "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl", which topped the U.S. country singles charts as well as the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles charts and earned him two Grammy Awards. Rich was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Rich at No. 120 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Early life Rich was born in Colt, Arkansas, to rural cotton farmers. He graduated from Consolidated High School in Forrest City, where he played saxophone in the band. He was strongly influenced by his parents, who were members of the Landmark Missionary Baptist Church; his mother, Helen Rich, played piano in church and his father sang in gospel quartets. A black sharecropper on the family land named C. J. Allen taught Rich blues piano. He enrolled at Arkansas State College on a football scholarship and then after an injury, transferred to the University of Arkansas as a music major. He left after one semester to join the United States Air Force in 1953.

In 1958, Rich became a regular session musician for Sun Records, playing on a variety of records by Lewis, Johnny Cash, Bill Justis, Warren Smith, Billy Lee Riley, Carl Mann, and Ray Smith. None of his seven follow-up singles was a success, however, though several of the songs became staples in his live set, including "Who Will the Next Fool Be", "Sittin' and Thinkin, and "No Headstone on My Grave".

Rich's career stalled, and he left the struggling Sun label in 1963, signing with Groove, a subsidiary of RCA Victor. In the same year he performed the Academy Award-nominated theme song "I Feel Love (Benji's Theme)" from the film Benji. Rich had three more Top 5 hits in 1975, but though he was at the peak of his popularity, he began to drink heavily, causing considerable problems off-stage.

CMA awards 1975 Rich's problematic drinking famously culminated at the CMA awards ceremony for 1975, Some considered it an act of rebellion against the Music Row-controlled Nashville Sound; others speculated that it was a protest against the award going to Denver, whose music Rich had considered too "pop" and not enough "country".

The slump in Rich's career was exacerbated by the fact that his records began to sound increasingly similar: pop-inflected country ballads with overdubbed strings and little jazz or blues. He did not have a Top 10 hit again until "Rollin' With the Flow" went to No. 1 on the country charts (as well as No. 32 on the easy listening charts) in 1977. He appeared as himself in the 1978 Clint Eastwood movie Every Which Way but Loose, performing "I'll Wake You Up When I Get Home". Tom Waits, who was an opening act for Rich in the 1970s, mentions him in the song "Putnam County" from his album Nighthawks at the Diner with the lyric: "The radio's spitting out Charlie Rich... He sure can sing, that son of a bitch."

Death Charlie Rich and his wife were driving to Florida for a vacation after seeing their son Allan perform with Freddy Fender at Lady Luck Casino in Natchez, Mississippi, when he experienced a bout of severe coughing. After visiting a doctor in St. Francisville, Louisiana, and receiving antibiotics, he continued traveling. They stopped for the night in a motel in Hammond, Louisiana, where Rich died in his sleep on July 25, 1995, at age 62. The cause of death was a pulmonary embolism.

Discography

Awards Academy of Country Music 1973 Album of the Year – Behind Closed Doors 1973 Single of the Year – "Behind Closed Doors" 1973 Top Male Vocalist

American Music Awards 1974 Favorite Country Single – "Behind Closed Doors" 1975 Favorite Country Male Artist 1975 Favorite Country Single – "The Most Beautiful Girl"

Country Music Association 1973 Album of the Year – Behind Closed Doors 1973 Single of the Year – "Behind Closed Doors" 1973 Male Vocalist of the Year 1974 Album of the Year – "A Very Special Love Song" 1974 Entertainer of the Year

Grammy Awards 1974 Best Country Vocal Performance, Male – "Behind Closed Doors" 1998 Grammy Hall of Fame Award – "Behind Closed Doors"