American singer Charley Pride 'will never be forgotten' in Ireland - Daniel O'Donnell

American singer Charley Pride "will never be forgotten" in Ireland, Daniel O'Donnell has said.

The Grammy-award winning country star died on Saturday aged 86.

He had played in Donegal over the years and appeared with Daniel O’Donnell on his TV show Opry Le Daniel.

The Donegal singer said his death was a "very, very sad loss".

"I loved Charley's music from my earliest memory," Daniel O'Donnell told BBC Radio Ulster.

"I was lucky enough then to get to know him when I started singing myself. He was a lovely man."

He said the American singer "loved Ireland" and "came religiously north and south".

"We loved him in Ireland," he added.

"He was fantastic, he wasn't one of these people that had everything rehearsed, he just loved the music," he continued.

"He belied his age really and up until recently he was in great form.”

Posting on Facebook after his death on Saturday, Daniel said: “I feel blessed that I got to share the stage and sing with him on many occasions but more than that we became good friends over the years.

“They say you should never meet your idol but I'm sure glad I met mine. Rest in peace Charley and my sympathies to Rozene and all his family.”

Between 1969, when he first hit Number 1 on the singles chart with All I Have to Offer You (Is Me) and 1984, when he commanded the top spot again with Every Heart Should Have One, Charley Pride scored more than 36 number one country singles.

Over the past 40 years, Pride had remained one of the Top 20 best-selling country artists of all-time. His legacy includes over 70 million albums sold, 31 gold and four platinum albums - including one quadruple platinum. On RCA Records, his sales were second in only to Elvis Presley.