Reba McEntire has been part of country music for almost 50 years. The Country Music Hall of Fame member has had one of the most legendary careers, of any genre, still filling large arenas and selling albums. While her success could easily be attributed to her talent and hard work, the 70-year-old says the credit actually belongs to her fans.
“I thank God for the fans, because they are people who travel, spend their hard-earned money to buy tickets, to buy albums,” McEntire tells Variety. “They’re faithful. And I don’t care what kind of entertainment business you’re in, whether it’s race cars or movies, singing or writing books. If you don’t have the fans, you might as well be singing in the shower, because they’re the ones that put food on our tables.”
In a now well-known story, McEntire grew up in a musical family, performing as part of the Singing McEntires. She also grew up working on her family’s ranch, and became a barrel racer. It’s a far cry from the life she has now. But McEntire says its her early years that prepared her for, and contributed to, her massive success.
“When I started out in the music business, I didn’t know anything about it,” the Oklahoma native admits. “What I did know is that in rodeo and ranching, it’s a man’s world: You insert yourself, you work your ass off; you don’t bitch about it, you don’t complain, you just work harder. When I got into the music business, that work ethic was still there.”
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McEntire has successfully parlayed her successful music career into other areas of the entertainment industry, including acting in TV shows and movies, appearing as a coach on The Voice and more. It’s all areas that she enjoys, but still point back to her first love: country music.
“[It] made me a better entertainer by far,” McEntire says. “The more experience and the different things you get to be involved in, you learn. You learn from other people you’re working with, whether it’s directors or producers. I’m very observant of how they do things. I want to improve every time I take on a new project.”
For all she has accomplished, McEntire is far from an overnight success story. It took her ten singles to get a Top 20 hit, which happened with “Sweet Dreams” in 1979. Even more shocking, it wasn’t until McEntire’s fifth studio album, Unlimited, before having a No. 1 hit, with “Can’t Even Get the Blues.”
“I didn’t do very well on my very first one,” McEntire previously told American Songwriter. “If I had started my career today and it went like it did in ’76, I would be home washing dishes, singing in the shower.”
McEntire is currently starring in Happy’s Place, which airs on NBC, She is returning to host the 2025 ACM Awards, for the second year in a row. The ceremony will take place on May 8 at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Find all of McEntire’s music and upcoming shows at Reba.com.
Photo Credit: NBC / Trae Patton