Daniel O'Donnell has paid a moving tribute to pioneering country music icon Charley Pride, saying of his late friend: "I loved him, both as a person and as a singer."
African-American singer Pride, who was 86, died from Covid-19-related complications in Dallas, Texas at the weekend.
On RTÉ One's Today Show, Daniel O'Donnell and his wife Majella reflected on Pride's life and work.
"[It's] Just hard to believe that Charley Pride has left us," Daniel O'Donnell told hosts Sinéad Kennedy and Dáithí Ó Sé. "I was so, so sad - and I am so sad - to think that he's gone."
"I loved him singing," O'Donnell continued. "I loved himself as well when I got to know him. That picture [onscreen] was taken in 1989. He came over for the first TV show that I did. I first met him in 1988 in Nashville, and then they asked him to come for the show, and he's been on countless TV shows that I have presented. At different times we've met on the same bill of shows in America and festivals.
"He was a great person. His stardom never affected him. I loved him, both as a person and as a singer. Just incredible for me to be able to have had the friendship with him and the connection with him that I had. From being a fan to getting to know him was just unbelievable."
"Daniel said to me that no matter what Daniel asked of him - you know, shows or even appearances like the [TV series] Daniel Sa Bhaile - no matter what they asked of him, he was always obliging," recounted Majella O'Donnell. "He never said no."
"It was a shock to hear because he was so well," Daniel O'Donnell added. "I had just looked at the clip of him at the Country Music Awards [in the US in November] and he looked so well and he sang well.
"I know he was thrilled to get the award [the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award], I've been speaking to his manager since. He was absolutely thrilled to get that award.
"So, I suppose to be able to have a career that lasted so long and to be able to... The last thing that he did professionally was to be honoured - I suppose it's a great way to end a career.
"But it's so sad, and we're thinking about [wife] Rozene and his family. It's a terrible time for them."
