Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, 25 of which reached the number one spot.
113 Facts About Reba McEntire
2.
Reba McEntire starred in the television series Reba, which aired for six seasons.
3.
One of four children, Reba McEntire was born and raised in Oklahoma.
4.
Reba McEntire later enrolled at Southeastern Oklahoma State University and studied to become a public school teacher.
5.
Reba McEntire continued to occasionally perform and was heard singing at a rodeo event by country performer Red Steagall.
6.
Yet Reba McEntire became increasingly unhappy with her career trajectory and signed with MCA Records in 1984.
7.
In 1991, Reba McEntire lost eight of her band members in a plane crash in San Diego, California.
8.
The experience led to Reba McEntire's critically acclaimed album For My Broken Heart, which is her highest-selling album to date.
9.
Reba McEntire followed it with several commercially successful albums during the 1990s, including Read My Mind, What If It's You and If You See Him.
10.
Reba McEntire's acting career began in January 1990 when she made her film debut in Tremors.
11.
Reba McEntire was born in McAlester, Oklahoma, in 1955 but was raised on a ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma.
12.
Reba McEntire was the third of four children born to Clark and Jacqueline McEntire.
13.
Reba McEntire's grandfather, John Wesley McEntire, was a world-champion steer roper in 1934, while her father held the same title three times.
14.
Jacqueline Reba McEntire had aspirations of becoming a country singer, but instead became a public school teacher, librarian and secretary.
15.
The Reba McEntire children helped with ranch chores before and after school.
16.
The Reba McEntire siblings developed an interest in singing, which was encouraged by their mother.
17.
On car trips to their father's rodeo dates, Jacqueline Reba McEntire taught her children to sing in harmony with one another.
18.
Young Reba McEntire then started performing at school, beginning in first grade when she sang "Away in a Manger" at an elementary school Christmas pageant.
19.
Reba McEntire developed an interest in the rodeo and trained to become a barrel racer.
20.
The band parted ways once Reba McEntire's brother graduated high school.
21.
Once finishing high school, Reba McEntire enrolled in college at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
22.
Reba McEntire majored in elementary education with a minor in music.
23.
Reba McEntire completed student teaching and later graduated with a Bachelor's degree.
24.
Reba McEntire continued to help out on her family's ranch during her college years.
25.
In 1974, Reba McEntire's father encouraged her to take a job opportunity singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City.
26.
Reba McEntire contacted family friend and rodeo announcer Clem McSpadden, who helped her get hired for the gig.
27.
At the hotel, Reba McEntire performed an a cappella version of Dolly Parton's "Joshua".
28.
Jacqueline Reba McEntire asked Steagall if he was able to help get all her children a recording contract.
29.
In March 1975 and accompanied by her mother, Reba McEntire embarked on a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, to record a demonstration tape that Steagall hoped to pass along to record labels.
30.
Reba McEntire recalled in her autobiography continually making excuses for her mother to stop the car instead of traveling to Nashville.
31.
Reba McEntire made her first recordings for the label in January 1976.
32.
Reba McEntire was produced by Glenn Keener and was backed by a Countrypolitan arrangement that included a string section.
33.
In some instances, the backing bands did not know country music and Reba McEntire would have to fill her time onstage with jokes.
34.
Reba McEntire later upgraded to a bus nicknamed "Silver Eagle", which routinely broke down.
35.
In 1983, Reba McEntire's bus had broken down when she was informed that her latest single "Can't Even Get the Blues" reached the number one spot on the Billboard country chart.
36.
Reba McEntire signed with MCA Records in 1984 and released her seventh studio album Just a Little Love.
37.
Harold Shedd was originally intended to produce the disc Reba McEntire rejected his desire for a country pop arrangement.
38.
Reba McEntire has pulled in the reins of her career, regained control of her music and her life.
39.
Reba McEntire began implementing choreography and experimented with stage lighting.
40.
Reviewer Tom Roland noted that Reba McEntire chose material that reflected her recent divorce from first husband Charlie Battles.
41.
In late 1987, Reba McEntire released her first Christmas collection called Merry Christmas to You.
42.
Reba McEntire fired her manager and formed her own entertainment company that helped further promote her material.
43.
Reba McEntire's husband took the call and discovered that one of the planes had crashed.
44.
Nine days following the accident, Reba McEntire performed at the 63rd Academy Awards ceremony, singing the Best Original Song nominee "I'm Checkin' Out" from the film Postcards from the Edge.
45.
Reba McEntire dedicated her sixteenth album, For My Broken Heart, to the deceased members of her road band.
46.
Later that year, Davis and Reba McEntire performed the duet at the CMA Awards.
47.
Reba McEntire's nineteenth studio album, Starting Over is a collection of her favorite songs originally recorded by others.
48.
Reba McEntire focused on an acting career in the early 2000s and took a temporary musical hiatus.
49.
Reba McEntire returned to her recording career in August 2003 with the release of the MCA single "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain".
50.
Reba McEntire: Duets topped the Billboard country chart and the Billboard 200, becoming her first album in her career to reach the top of both lists.
51.
In 2008, Reba McEntire announced that she would be departing her label of 25 years and signing with the Valory Music Group, an imprint of Big Machine Records.
52.
At age 54, Reba McEntire became one of the oldest women to have a number one single on the country songs chart.
53.
In 2014, Reba McEntire moved to Big Machine's new imprint for veteran artists titled Nash Icon Music.
54.
In 2016, Reba McEntire released a third Christmas-themed studio album called My Kind of Christmas.
55.
Reba McEntire announced she would soon be selling her own line of clothing, home decor, jewelry and other things under the "Rockin' R by Reba" line at Cracker Barrel.
56.
Reba McEntire recruited Justin McIntosh of Starstruck Entertainment, Leslie Matthews serving as Brand Manager, and Carolyn Snell who has been with McEntire for nine years.
57.
Reba McEntire moved out of the building she and Blackstock had worked in, and moved her company to Green Hills, Nashville.
58.
In January 2018, Reba McEntire won the Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album, her first nomination since 2007, and her first Grammy Award win in more than twenty years, since 1994.
59.
In July 2018, it was announced that Reba McEntire would be one of four honorees for the 41st annual Kennedy Center Honors, along with Cher, Philip Glass, and Wayne Shorter.
60.
Reba McEntire released her twenty-ninth studio album Stronger Than the Truth on April 5,2019.
61.
Reba McEntire returned to host the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards on April 8,2019.
62.
On February 20,2020, during a surprise appearance at the Country Radio Seminar, Reba McEntire announced she had signed a new record deal with MCA Nashville, returning to the label after leaving in November 2008.
63.
Reba McEntire hosted the 54th Annual Country Music Association Awards alongside Darius Rucker in November 2020.
64.
Reba McEntire previously hosted in 2019 with Carrie Underwood and Dolly Parton, 1992 with Vince Gill, 1991 by herself and 1990 with Randy Travis.
65.
On October 3,2022, Reba McEntire revealed that she would continue her Reba McEntire: Live in Concert tour going through 2023 and play New York City's Madison Square Garden for the very first time.
66.
In 1994, Reba McEntire worked with director Rob Reiner in the film North, playing Ma Tex.
67.
In 1996, Reba McEntire was cast by director James Cameron as Molly Brown in his film Titanic.
68.
However, when it became apparent production for the film would extend well beyond its original length, Reba McEntire had to turn down the part, as she had already scheduled prior concert engagements.
69.
In 1998, she starred as Lizzie Brooks in Forever Love, which was based upon Reba McEntire's hit single of the same name.
70.
In early 2001, Reba McEntire expanded into theater, starring in the Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun.
71.
In 2005, Reba McEntire starred as Nellie Forbush in the Carnegie Hall concert production of the Broadway musical South Pacific with Alec Baldwin as Luther Billis and Brian Stokes Mitchell as Emile de Becque, directed by Walter Bobbie and with an adapted script by David Ives.
72.
Reba McEntire garnered critical acclaim and success, becoming the network's highest-rated television show for adults ranging from the ages of 18 to 49.
73.
In September 2011, Reba McEntire confirmed on her website that ABC had ordered a pilot for her second television series Malibu Country.
74.
Reba McEntire played a divorced mother of two who moves to Malibu, California to restart her music career.
75.
On May 11,2012, Reba McEntire tweeted that the show had been picked up.
76.
Reba McEntire was the host in the 2011 NASCAR Award Show in Las Vegas.
77.
In January 2018, Reba McEntire was chosen to portray KFC's first female Colonel Sanders.
78.
Reba McEntire made a cameo appearance in the 2021 comedy film Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar as a water spirit named Trish after Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, who wrote, produced, and starred in the film, wrote her an "impassioned letter" asking her to join the film.
79.
In May 2022, ABC announced that Reba McEntire will be joining the cast of the drama Big Sky, playing local businesswoman Sunny Brick in season 3.
80.
In May 2023, it was announced that Reba McEntire will be a coach on The Voice, replacing Blake Shelton.
81.
Reba McEntire will be a coach on season 24 alongside Gwen Stefani, Niall Horan, and John Legend.
82.
Reba McEntire's sound has been influenced by the country music of Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, and Patsy Cline.
83.
Reba McEntire explained Merle Haggard's influence on her career, stating "I had every album he ever put out", and would sing "every song he did", along with her brother, Pake and sister, Susie.
84.
Reba McEntire possesses a contralto vocal range and performs "vocal gymnastics" with her voice, a musical technique in which a singer twirls a note around, using their vibrato.
85.
Reba McEntire has credited Dolly Parton for influencing this trait, stating that she always listened to Parton's records and find her style of vocal gymnastics "so pretty".
86.
Reba McEntire has often been regarded as one of country music's most influential female vocalists and most beloved entertainers.
87.
Reba McEntire is highly credited for remaining one of country's most popular female artists for nearly four decades, maintaining her success by continually incorporating contemporary musical sounds without changing her traditional vocal style.
88.
Reba McEntire is a Christian, and she has stated that her faith in God has helped her immensely throughout her life.
89.
Reba McEntire owns and operates a 1,000-acre ranch near Coalgate, Oklahoma, and continues to rodeo.
90.
Reba McEntire's sister Susie McEntire-Eaton is a successful Christian music singer who travels the country with her husband, speaking and performing.
91.
Reba McEntire has an older sister, Alice Foran, a retired social worker who resides in Lane, Oklahoma.
92.
In 1976, Reba McEntire married steer wrestling champion and rancher Charlie Battles who was 10 years her senior and had two sons from his previous marriage.
93.
In 1987, Reba McEntire divorced Battles and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to further pursue her career.
94.
In 1989, Reba McEntire married her manager and former steel guitar player Narvel Blackstock.
95.
Together, the pair took over all aspects of Reba McEntire's career, forming Starstruck Entertainment, which was originally designed to help manage her career.
96.
From her marriage to Blackstock, Reba McEntire gained three stepchildren, Chassidy, Shawna, and Brandon.
97.
Reba McEntire gave birth to a son, Shelby Steven McEntire Blackstock, in February 1990.
98.
Reba McEntire announced in December 2015 that their divorce had been finalized on October 28,2015.
99.
In 2017, Reba McEntire began a relationship with photographer Anthony "Skeeter" Lasuzzo.
100.
In 2020, Reba McEntire began dating film and TV actor Rex Linn.
101.
Reba McEntire has been honored with the Minnie Pearl Award, the ACM Home Depot Humanitarian Award and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation Humanitarian Award for her efforts.
102.
Reba McEntire has the second-most wins for the Academy of Country Music's Top Female Vocalist Awards with seven.
103.
Reba McEntire holds the record American Music Awards for Favorite Country Female Artist.
104.
Reba McEntire holds the distinction of being the first to win the Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year Award four times consecutively.
105.
Reba McEntire is a rare musical artist to achieve solo number-ones across four decades.
106.
Reba McEntire holds the record for 2nd most CMA Award nominations for a female artist, with 51.
107.
Reba McEntire holds the record with the most ACM Awards nominations for a female artist with 47, respectively.
108.
Reba McEntire is the recipient of three Grammy Awards, winning in 1987,1994 and 2018.
109.
When Reba McEntire made her Grand Ole Opry debut on September 17,1977, she almost did not make it in the door after a guard at the Opry gate missed her name on the night's list of performers.
110.
Reba McEntire was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on January 17,1986.
111.
In 2011, the Country Music Association announced that Reba McEntire would be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
112.
Reba McEntire was unable to attend the announcement after her father had slipped into a coma following a stroke.
113.
Reba McEntire attended the official induction ceremony alongside the other 2011 inductees Jean Shepard and Bobby Braddock.