Reba McEntire

Reba McEntire secured a lasting spot among 1980s country superstars by crossing into the pop mainstream, where her screen and stage work became as prominent as her recordings. Her stature grew until she joined the short list of first-name icons such as Dolly, Tammy, Merle, and Madonna. McEntire earned that broader recognition through the same persistent effort she applied inside the country field. Six years of road work and studio sessions passed before her initial chart-topper arrived in the form of the 1982 single “Can’t Even Get the Blues,” after which her profile rose further once she joined MCA Records in the mid-1980s. She persuaded the company to let her align with the new traditionalist wave on the 1984 album My Kind of Country, a decision that accelerated her ascent. By removing lingering pop-country traces and delivering hard-country performances that echoed George Strait, she collected consecutive number-one singles with “How Blue” and “Somebody Should Leave,” paving the way for the breakthrough 1986 set Whoever’s in New England. For roughly ten years she stayed a constant presence in the Country Top Ten and often reached the summit. Maintaining that run demanded gradual adaptation, and she managed changing tastes by gradually reintroducing pop touches while reaching wider listeners through film (Tremors in 1990), theater (the 2001 Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun), and television (serving as a coach on The Voice in 2023). Even amid these detours, McEntire retained a distinctly country identity by balancing rural genuineness with Nashville polish.

The roots of her fame lie in the Oklahoma rodeo circuit. Born March 28, 1955, in McAlester, she was the third child and second daughter of schoolteacher Helen Florida McEntire and Clark Vincent McEntire, a World Champion steer roper whose peak years came in the late 1950s; Clark was himself the son of champion roper John McEntire. Music filled the household. Helen once dreamed of a singing career and urged her children to perform, so Reba, sister Susie, and brother Pake formed the Singing McEntires as youngsters. Reba led the group, played guitar, and wrote songs, among them one honoring her grandfather’s roping titles. Titled “The Ballad of John McEntire,” the track appeared as a limited-edition 7-inch on the local Boss label, a private pressing that later gained notice as Reba McEntire’s first recording.

Following her 1973 high-school graduation, McEntire entered Southeastern Oklahoma State University intending to become a teacher like her mother. She continued performing at clubs and rodeos while studying, and she attracted the notice of Red Steagall when they shared a bill at the 1974 National Rodeo Finals in Oklahoma City. Steagall urged her to try Nashville. During spring break in 1975 she cut demos there that secured a Mercury Records contract that November.

Her Mercury debut single, “I Don’t Want to Be a One Night Stand,” entered Billboard’s country chart in May 1976 and peaked at number 88. The follow-up, “(There’s Nothing Like the Love) Between a Woman and a Man,” arrived in February 1977, and the next release, “Glad I Waited Just for You,” appeared in August alongside her self-titled debut album; none climbed out of the eighties. A genuine hit arrived only when she paired with labelmate Jacky Ward on the double-sided single “Three Sheets in the Wind”/“I’d Really Love to See You Tonight,” which reached number 20 in summer 1978. Additional duets, including the 1979 entry “That Makes Two of Us,” raised her visibility, and by fall she scored her first solo hit with a cover of Patsy Cline’s “Sweet Dreams,” which climbed to number 19. “(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven” became her first Top Ten single in summer 1980.

Momentum remained uneven in the early 1980s even though singles such as “I Can See Forever in Your Eyes” and “I Don’t Think Love Ought to Be That Way” reached the teens in 1980 and 1981. Her first album to chart, Heart to Heart, appeared in 1981. Disagreements with Mercury over material and promotion surfaced as the label steered her toward softer pop-country sounds. She nonetheless began hitting the Country Top Ten regularly in 1982, starting with “I’m Not That Lonely Yet,” which led directly to consecutive number-one singles “Can’t Even Get the Blues” and “You’re the First Time I’ve Thought About Leaving.” That success allowed her to exit Mercury in 1983 and sign with MCA Nashville in 1984.

“Just a Little Love” opened her MCA tenure and proved the first of many Top Ten singles she would log there over the next two decades. Although the label initially positioned her as a country-pop artist, McEntire convinced president Jimmy Bowen to let her record harder country material. The result was the 1984 album My Kind of Country, a collection of classics that aligned her with new traditionalists Randy Travis and George Strait. The set reached number 13 on Billboard’s country chart, its singles “How Blue” and “Somebody Should Leave” both topped the list, and the project earned McEntire the Country Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year award in 1984, signaling Nashville’s approval of the change.

The 1985 album Have I Got a Deal, co-produced by McEntire and Bowen, yielded two more Top Ten singles in its title track and “Only in My Mind,” yet it was 1986’s Whoever’s in New England that elevated her to superstar status: both the title song and “Little Rock” reached number one, as did the album itself. “Whoever’s in New England” captured the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, the album earned its first RIAA gold certification, the CMA named her Entertainer of the Year, and she joined the Grand Ole Opry cast that same year.

By the mid-1980s McEntire ranked as country’s dominant star and sustained that position into 1987, collecting a fourth consecutive CMA Female Vocalist of the Year trophy and issuing three albums in rapid succession. What Am I Gonna Do About You, released eight months after Whoever’s in New England, topped the chart in October 1986, with its title track and “One Promise Too Late” also reaching number one. April 1987 brought the compilation Greatest Hits, which documented her swift climb and became one of her most enduring catalog releases, and she quickly followed with The Last One to Know, which featured number-one singles in its title track and “Love Will Find Its Way to You.” Two months after that September release she issued her first holiday album, Merry Christmas to You, later certified double platinum.

In 1988 McEntire consolidated her gains. She had divorced rodeo star Charlie Battles the previous year and relocated from Oklahoma to Nashville, where she married steel guitarist Narvel Blackstock and founded Starstruck Entertainment, an organization encompassing publishing, management, and booking. She began easing toward softer pop sounds on the album Reba. Preceded by a cover of Jo Stafford’s “A Sunday Kind of Love,” which interrupted her streak of number-one singles, the set also contained the chart-topping tracks “I Know How He Feels” and “New Fool at an Old Game.” She remained atop the country charts into the early 1990s while continuing to reach mainstream listeners. The 1989 album Sweet Sixteen hit number one on Billboard’s country chart, followed later that year by the concert recording Reba Live. Rumor Has It entered the Billboard Top 200 Top 40 upon its September 1990 release, and that year she made her feature-film debut in Tremors.

Tragedy struck on March 16, 1991, when several members of her touring party died in a plane crash after a San Diego concert. The subsequent album For My Broken Heart, released in October 1991, was dedicated to those lost. It became her highest-charting pop album to that point, peaking at number 13, and eventually received four-times-platinum certification, marking her best-selling studio release. Its 1992 follow-up, It’s Your Call, reached number eight on the Billboard Top 200, reflecting both her growing pop audience and the adoption of SoundScan data.

McEntire continued topping charts through the 1990s. Albums routinely entered the Billboard Top Ten and country number one, while singles frequently hit the summit. Occasional setbacks occurred, such as the 1995 album Starting Over, which yielded no major hits, yet she maintained steady commercial success with regular platinum certifications and Top Ten singles.

Acting claimed greater attention during the 2000s. She had already appeared in the 1995 miniseries Buffalo Girls and in television movies based on her songs—Is There Life Out There? in 1994 and Forever Love in 1998—but her portrayal of Annie Oakley in the 2001 Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun marked a decisive shift toward performance. That October she launched the WB sitcom Reba, later aired on the CW, which ran six seasons and earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Comedy Actress. Recording slowed accordingly. No new studio album appeared between the 1999 release So Good Together and the 2003 set Room to Breathe, both of which reached the country Top Five and earned platinum status. The 2005 double-disc compilation Reba: #1’s sustained her chart presence while she starred in Reba and performed in South Pacific for PBS’s Great Performances series in 2005.

After the sitcom’s February 18, 2007 finale, McEntire returned to recording with Reba: Duets, her final new studio album for MCA Nashville. The label concluded her contract with the triple-disc 50 Greatest Hits in October 2008. She soon resurfaced on the Valory/Starstruck imprint with Keep on Loving You, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 upon its August 2009 release, earned gold certification, and featured the number-one single “Consider Me Gone.” The Dann Huff-produced All the Women I Am followed in 2010 and produced her last major hit, “Turn on the Radio,” which topped Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. McEntire was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2011. She starred in the ABC sitcom Malibu Country across 2012 and 2013 before its cancellation after one season.

Mid-decade brought further transitions. After divorcing Narvel Blackstock, she signed with Big Machine’s Nash Icon imprint and released Love Somebody in 2015, which entered the Billboard Country Albums chart at number one. A holiday project, My Kind of Christmas, appeared via Cracker Barrel in 2016. Capitol Christian issued the double album Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope in 2017; it debuted at number one on the country chart and won the Grammy for Best Roots Gospel Album. Working with producer Buddy Cannon, she returned to hard-country roots on 2019’s Stronger Than the Truth, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album.

McEntire rejoined MCA Nashville in 2020 and issued the triple-disc set Revived Remixed Revisited in October 2021. Comprising re-recordings with her touring band, remixes, and Dave Cobb-produced acoustic versions, the package debuted at number 12 on Billboard’s Country Charts. In 2022 she released My Chains Are Gone, a gospel collection featuring guest appearances by Kelly Clarkson and Trisha Yearwood.

The following year she published the book Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots, accompanied by the 14-song acoustic album Not That Fancy that included the new track “Seven Minutes in Heaven.” Around the same time she joined the 24th season of The Voice as a coach, succeeding Blake Shelton.