Reba McEntire on Releasing Anniversary Version of ‘Rumor Has It’: ‘I’m Really Thrilled’

The 30th anniversary version of Reba McEntire’s Rumor Has It album is out! The 65-year-old recalled how she chose the songs for the record, first released on September 4, 1990, while very pregnant with her son, Shelby.

“It was 1990, February of 1990. I had Shelby, so that was in February,” Reba recounted to her record label. “I had been on bedrest since December the 6th, so finally had him on the 23rd of February and then we started in on the tour. But while I was on bedrest I was listening for songs. They’d bring me a huge box of cassette tapes. I had to stay on my left side all the time, and I had my boom box and I would listen to songs all day long.”

Rumor Has It also marked Reba’s first record with producer Tony Brown, after previously working with Jimmy Bowen.

“Tony and I had been big friends for a long time there at MCA Records, so he started producing me and we had a blast with that,” Reba shared.” Then we went on tour and it was hard. I was way out of shape. I had to get back into shape quick. I had a brace around my back and my stomach because it was the big staircase I had to walk up and down.”

Rumor Has It features some of the biggest songs of Reba’s career, including the title track and “Fancy.”

“A lot of stuff happened, but a lot of great things happened out of that. Number one, Shelby is 30 years old,” Reba said. “‘Fancy’ is my biggest song of my career; four great singles off this album, so I’m really thrilled that we’re getting to re-release it. Who would’ve thought you would’ve been able to do that?”

The Grand Ole Opry member previously spoke out about releasing the album again, three decades later.

“I never imagined I’d get the chance to put out an album for a second time. It’s just so much fun to look back and remember where we were and what we were doing when they were originally released,” Reba said. “This album in particular is very special to me because it was the first time I got to record with Tony Brown and he was the reason I finally got to record ‘Fancy.’ Now here we are 30 years later and I never end a show without singing that song.”

Purchase Rumor Has It at Reba.com.