Born 14^th December 1932 in Colt, Arizona, he grew up listening to gospel music and signing in the church choir. His mother, a Baptist missionary, taught him to play the piano. After graduating, he married his high school sweetheart, who later became his songwriting partner. Rich played in a number of dance bands and jazz combos and then spent a year studying music at Arkansas University. In 1951, he enlisted in the air force and while stationed at Okalahoma, formed his own band, the Velvetones, which had its own local television show.

After his discharge, he moved back to Arkansas where his musical career was restricted to playing the clubs  around Memphis on the weekends, while he supported his family by farming. With a little help from his wife, Charlie's musical aspirations took a leap forward when he signed with Sam Philips' Sun Records label. Initially hired as a songwriter, he also played on sessions for other Sun artists such as Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash. This eventually led to him cutting his own records and in 1960, his third single, Lonely Weekends, made the charts, peaking at number twenty-two.

This was his only real success during his fie-year tenure at Sun. in 1963, he left the Sun label, and over the next four years he had modest success with a number of labels including RCA, Mercury and Fi. In December 1967, Rich signed with the Epic label and over the next decade, he established himself as one of the superstars of country music with a string of Top Forty country hits. He died on 25^th July 1995 from  a blood clot.