Reba McEntire is one of American country music’s greats, known and loved by all, but she’s dealt with some hardships throughout her life

Reba McEntire at NBC Celebrates Fall Comedy held at NBCUniversal on October 09, 2024 in Studio City, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

Reba McEntire is known by many as the queen of country, and for a good reason – her tenacity, kindness and powerful voice have resonated with the hearts of many.

We trace her roots from growing up in rural Oklahoma, to performing for millions of adoring fans.

In 1955, Reba was born in the town of McAlester in Oklahoma, but she grew up on a cattle ranch in Chockie. Her father Clark, along with her grandfather, were champion steer ropers (a type of rodeo event that involves a cowboy on a horse lassoing a young male calf).

Her mother, Jacqueline, had dreams of becoming a country singer, but became a teacher instead, while also working as a librarian and secretary. Although she didn’t become a star herself, Jacqueline passed her love of music down to Reba, along with Reba’s two sisters and brother.

“We didn’t have a radio in the car,” Reba told Sunday Sitdown . “It was four kids in the backseat, rough-housin’ and, you know – mama would get us to sing to pass the time. We were the Singing McEntires.”

Reba’s family worked hard to make ends meet, with her and her siblings expected to help out with looking after the cows on the ranch.

It was during school that her singing talent first started to emerge. “That victory made me like a hunting dog. I had tasted blood and now knew deep within my very soul that I was to be an entertainer,” she said of winning her first singing prize in first grade.

She appeared in several more school performances, as well as learning to play the piano and guitar. Reba also took after her father in terms of the rodeo, training as a barrel racer for a time, but she admitted she would be so nervous before her performances, she would get sick. However, she was never nervous before singing, proving she was born to be a star!

Reba McEntire performing on The Voice

By the early 1970s, Reba and two of her siblings were performing regularly, with her brother Pake singing and playing acoustic rhythm guitar, Reba taking high harmony, and Susie singing the low.

The trio performed locally and even produced a few hundred copies of their tribute song to their famous rodeo grandfather, The Ballad of John McEntire . However, the band parted ways after the siblings graduated from high school.

After graduation, Reba studied to become a primary school teacher in Southeastern Oklahoma State University, just like her mother before her, but shortly after completing her degree, she got her big break.

Stardom

There was one particular career move that cemented Reba’s path to stardom. In 1974, after some encouragement from her father, she started performing The Star-Spangled Banner at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma. Country artist Red Steagall happened to be in the crowd and was impressed with Reba’s vocals, and by early 1975, she was on her way to Nashville to record some tracks with Red.

The following year, she signed a record deal and released her first songs. Things got off to a slow start, with her first two singles failing to chart well, and due to this lack of momentum, Reba often had to rely on house bands
to support her during her concerts.

While they learned the music, she entertained the crowd with jokes on stage, something which definitely honed her comedic skills – which would prove useful later on in her career.

Eventually, after achieving more success in the country charts, she gathered together a band, which included her sister Susie and brother Pake. After achieving some top 10 hits, Reba managed to switch record labels, and it was at RCA Records where she achieved a breakthrough into the mainstream in 1984.

Longing to have more creative control over her work and to move away from a soft country pop sound, Reba worked hard to find songs that spoke to her, and she finally achieved that with Somebody Should Leave and How Blue , which went straight to number one in the country charts upon their release. Her following album, My Kind Of Country , was a huge success and Reba won Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1984 Country Music Association awards, with more success two years later with the hit song Whoever’s In New England , which won a Grammy.

Sadness

Reba is no stranger to heartbreak. She suffered a massive loss in 1991 when eight of her band members were killed in a plane crash. Reba, completely devastated, dedicated her album For My Broken Heart to the victims of the accident. This album became an instant classic and a crossover success, charting at 13 on the Billboard 200 chart and selling over four million copies in the States.

Reba has also suffered loss in love. In 1976, she got married to rancher Charlie Battles, who had two teenage children from a previous marriage. Just under a decade later, the marriage ended in divorce, with Reba moving to Nashville shortly after to further pursue her music career.

In 1989, she wed Narvel Blackstock, her manager, and Reba became a step mother to his three children, along with giving birth to their son, Shelby, who later went on to become a racecar driver.

Her stepson Brandon was married to singer Kelly Clarkson until their divorce was finalised in 2022.

Reba and Narvel were together for 26 years before announcing their split in 2015, with Reba admitting she pours all her sadness into her songs. “Everybody has had their heart broken in one way or another, and everybody can relate to it,” she told Billboard . “Singing the sad songs is just more relatable.”

Reba’s beloved mother Jacqueline passed away from cancer in 2020, and her death almost caused Reba to quit music entirely. Speaking on Today With Hoda & Jenna , she revealed that she told her sister Susie she wasn’t going to sing anymore, which thankfully didn’t happen. Speaking of her mum, she said, “She was really encouraging for all of us kids, whatever we wanted to do.”

New-found love

As well as music, Reba has ventured into acting, and her best-known show is the sitcom Reba , where she played the main character of a hard-working mother going through a divorce.

The show ran from 2001 to 2007 and the theme song was one of Reba’s hits, I’m A Survivor , which also recently went viral on TikTok. She was also a guest star in Young Sheldon and is starring in a new show, Happy’s Place .

She is currently a judge on the ‘blind’ singing competition show The Voice , helping to guide other talented singers to achieve their own success.

Reba has also found love again, this time with CSI Miami actor Rex Linn. The pair initially met in 1991 and reconnected 30 years later on the set of Young Sheldon . They have been together since 2020 and couldn’t be happier. “Rex and I are best friends. We have the same likes and dislikes. Rex brings out the little girl in me and I have fun. I’m dorky, I’m goofy. He is too. We love to laugh, and we love each other,” Reba told US Weekly .

It was a full-circle moment for Reba back in February when she performed the American national anthem in front of millions at the Superbowl, 50 years after her first public performance of the song.

“It’s a gift, you know. But it’s not about me,” she said on The Drew Barrymore Show . “It’s about the song, and hoping to reunite all the division that is going on in the world, and our country. Hopefully that will heal hearts. And I kinda think sometimes that’s why I’m on the earth. If it’s to heal one heart, then great.”