What Will Reba McEntire Do Next After Her Personal And Professional Heartache?

A New Chapter

Reba McEntire and Narvel Blackstock first met in the band, and her ex-husband was the steel guitar player. After seven years, Narvel became her manager and was the one who gave her mental and emotional support when Reba got divorced from her first husband. Since then, their friendship blossomed to something more romantic in nature.

A New Chapter

Tying The Knot

Reba McEntire and Narvel Blackstock decided to get married last 1989. The two had their ceremony on a boat that floated in the middle of Lake Tahoe. When Reba and Narvel got married, she turned to be the stepmom of Narvel’s three children from his first marriage. The next year, Reba gave birth to Shelby, their son, who later became a race car driver. The couple were at the head of the music industry and decided to create their own management company named Starstruck. Things might seem to be going well for them, and yet, Reba McEntire did not always have a comfortable life.

Tying The Knot

Born And Raised In The Countryside

The country music superstar, Reba McEntire, was born on March 28, 1955, in McAlester, a small Oklahoman town. Reba and her siblings had been raised in a nearby community named Chockie on McEntire’s ranch. Reba had a brother named Pike and two sisters named Alice and Susie. The siblings helped their parents in performing various chores like cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the cattle.

Born And Raised In The Countryside

Successful Life Lessons

Even though Reba McEntire was still a young kid, she already realized how important it was to work hard and to provide her fair share. It was because of these life lessons that helped Reba overlaid the way to her future success.

Successful Life Lessons

Ranch And Rodeo Reba

Reba McEntire’s mother, Jacqueline, had always wanted to be a country music artist. And yet, the mother ended up working as a schoolteacher because their community needed one. As for Reba’s father and grandfather, the two were both rodeo steer ropers. Clark McEntire, her father, was even a three-time World Champion Steer Roper.

Ranch And Rodeo Reba

Fun Fact

A fun fact most people were not aware of was that Reba McEntire already knew how to drive when she was just at a young age of 5. The country musician learned how to drive so that she could help out in her family’s ranch. Reba would drive her father’s truck every winter as Clark loaded bales of hay for their cattle.

Fun Fact

A Family Of Singers

Jacqueline McEntire was the one who introduced the McEntire children to cultivate their love for country music. The children already knew how to sing even though they were still young. Reba McEntire’s first solo performance was when she sang Away in a Manger for a Christmas play in the first grade. The McEntire family frequently traveled to attend Clark’s rodeo competition, and each member would sing during the ride. Soon, the siblings had been recognized as the Singing McEntires. Reba McEntire always sang the national anthem during rodeo competitions and also sang for the local radio station. The country musician had been requested to sing for the local high school graduation ceremony when she was just in the third grade.

A Family Of Singers

Becoming Miss Ford Country

Reba McEntire was inspired to be a country artist from the other female musicians like Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, and Tammy Wynette. The aspiring country artist did not know that she would be able to surpass them and would soon have the title of being the best selling female country musician in history. Reba won an essay contest and got the title of Miss Ford Country when the country artist was sixteen, and her prize was that Reba could drive a new Ford for six months. According to Reba McEntire, she managed to hit 18,000 miles on the road before returning the vehicle.

Becoming Miss Ford Country

The Family That Sings Together

The Singing McEntires performed everywhere like at dance halls, honky-tonks, local bars, and local rodeos. The siblings were able to record a song named The Ballad of John McEntire and were derived from their grandpa. The Singing McEntires made around a thousand copies. When the band was still performing, they had two significant hits titled If I Could Only Be With You and God Never Cried. Most of the local radio stations around Oklahoma played these songs. Of course, the Singing McEntires performed them live.

The Family That Sings Together

A Lesson For A Lifetime

Reba McEntire was baptized when she was still with the Singing McEntires. The family was on their way to perform at another gig. Reba told her mother that she wanted to invite everyone who would watch them from the dance hall to go to church on Sunday morning. Jacqueline’s response to her daughter was a special lesson Reba had kept close to her heart. Her mother asked why she thought that the same people did not attend the church. In her interviews, Reba McEntire said that she learned an unforgettable and valuable lesson. She said, “That was my first lesson on passing judgment. You don’t know what other people do. You don’t know their heart.”

A Lesson For A Lifetime

Wanted To Be Like Her Mother

After Reba McEntire graduated from high school, she decided to go to college in Southern Oklahoma State University in Durant. The country artist chose to major in education and minored in music. Whenever she had free time from her studies, she focused on music. Reba McEntire performed locally whenever there was an opportunity. Most of her classmates said that she would one day become a country star, maybe like Garth Brooks. Reba McEntire originally planned to be an elementary school teacher just like her mother. And yet, multiple events in her life swayed her into going to a different path.

Wanted To Be Like Her Mother

Life-Changing Rodeo Performances

Reba McEntire’s life turned around in 1974. Reba had received an offer to sing the national anthem for the National Rodeo in Oklahoma City. It did not matter whether it was fate or coincidence, but Red Steagall, a country music star, discovered the extremely talented young woman. He was also performing at the same event and was awed by Reba McEntire’s singing performance. It was him who helped the upstart to begin her country music career in Nashville. Reba made a demo tape and signed a record deal with Mercury Records in just a year later.

Life-Changing Rodeo Performances

Her First Marriage

Reba McEntire was at another rodeo when she first met Charlie Battles, her first husband. The two got married last 1976, and it was also that year when Reba’s career started to soar. The country artist released a debut single titled I Don’t Want to be a One Night Stand last January 22, 1976. It only managed to reach the 88th spot on the Billboard country charts. Her next few singles did not become massive hits, too. And yet, Reba McEntire was unstoppable. The country artist finally had some luck when her cover of Sweet Dreams by Patsy Cline climbed the 19th spot on the charts last 1979. That was the first time Reba made it to the Top 20, and it was not going to be her last.

Her First Marriage

First Time At The Grand Ole Opry

Reba McEntire was requested to sing at the Grand Ole Opry last 1977. She did not let the opportunity slip because it was her first time to perform at the legendary home of country music. Reba was honored to accept the extended invitation. The rising country artist eventually arrived at Nashville, but the security guard assigned at the entrance would not let her inside because she was not on the list. The two exchanged a few more words until the guard finally saw her name. We could not believe that she almost did not make it. And when she was allowed to enter, the producers informed her that they cut her slot in half for Dolly Parton. Back then, no one knew that they were dealing with a future country music legend.

First Time At The Grand Ole Opry

Her Real Big Break

In 1983, one of Reba’s songs had reached the top spot of the Billboard charts. It started when she released her fifth album called Unlimited. She was not satisfied with the lack of creative control over her work and pushed her to produce country-pop ballads, which was when she decided to leave Mercury. However, she accepted a contract with MCA Nashville Records and made her album titled Just a Little Love in the following year.

Her Real Big Break

At Long Last

Reba was not satisfied with her career path, but she was lucky when an opportunity knocked on her door. She had full creative control in her newly released album of songs called My Kind of Country. It had two songs which made it into the Billboard No. 1 hits. The critics adored her songs and made her happy with her music career.

At Long Last

New Interest In Acting

Reba McEntire was known for being a musician since the ’80s. Not only did we know she produced her songs, but she could also work hard to change her music videos into the theatrical act with completed characters and storyline. Some critics called her work as a “Mini-movies.” We knew it was not easy to make that kind of video. Her work in the music videos made her interested in the world of acting. She added a goal in her life, and that was to act in a film. Did we think she had an idea she could do more than she thought of?

New Interest In Acting

A Dream Come True

Reba McEntire was doing great with her career when she played her on-screen debut in the 1990 flick, Tremors. It was a Horror-comedy which was about giant underground worm-monsters. She decided to hold off her honeymoon with Narvel to finish the production. The singer shared her experience with the film that she had a great time playing a role in the movie, but her co-star did not have the same feeling towards the show. Kevin Bacon stated that it was a “low point” performance as an actor. However, Reba did not care as she had enjoyed her role in the movie. She also thought it was her first step towards her dream, yet not everything was according to her plan.

A Dream Come True

Trouble In Paradise

Reba and Charlie’s Battles were residing at Oklahoma ranch, but her successful career put pressure into their marriage. Her husband wished her to stay in their residence. He wanted to help him out in his work and keep her at his side. However, she knew she needed to perform on the road. It ended up with numerous arguments that resulted in a divorce in the year 1987. Reba said to the public, “I had to pack everything in one day and leave. I was totally starting over. I wasn’t the little girl anymore. Taking orders and doing what he said.”

Trouble In Paradise

Tragedy Struck

Reba could not overcome the scene when an incident happened in the year 1991. The plane where her band took flight collided into a mountain near San Diego. Every person in that plane passed away, including the eight members of her group. Reports stated that it was poor visibility that had caused the incident. At that moment of the event, Reba was sleeping peacefully at the nearby hotel. We could not think about how she was mourning when she had heard the news. Reba felt like she had lost a family. She also shared that some of the crew members were working with her for several years.

Tragedy Struck

An Album For The People She Lost

Her 16th album titled For My Broken was for her band member who died because of an accident. It contained songs about lost love and sorrow. It became the top-selling studio albums she had created. It had sold for over four million copies, and two songs in the album took a top position in the Billboard music charts. Overall, the album made it to No.3 of the charts.

An Album For The People She Lost

The Red Dress That Went Down In History

Reba McEntire, together with Linda Davis, earned a Grammy and CMA Award for their effort on Does He Love You. At the CMA Awards that year, she got more attraction from the rest of the people in the event. That time Reba McEntire wore a sexy red dress put the audience in awe while Reba was going towards the stage. In her interview, she remembered how her father gave his honest opinion about the outfit when he questioned her that something was wrong with the dress or that she was wearing the outfit backward. We could see the legendary red dress at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

The Red Dress That Went Down In History

A Country Music Pioneer

We could say that Country music did not frequently talk about AIDS, and some people viewed it as a taboo, but Reba McEntire was not the same with her peers. In 1994, she produced the album titled Read My mind. The country artist made a controversial song in the collection called She Thinks His Name Was John. It was about a tale of a woman who got AIDS when she made a drunken one-night stand to a random man. She made this kind of music to prove to other people that were not afraid to produce a social commentary in the form of art. She was not scared of tackling different types of controversial concepts like domestic abuse, illegal immigration, neglect of the elderly, and mercy killing.

A Country Music Pioneer

A Rough Patch

Her career did not create an impact on the critics when she released her 19th album called Starting Over. However, she did not produce an original song, and it was compared to the original recordings of her popular songs. The album was to celebrate Reba’s 20th year in the music industry. Critics did not give positive input to the collection, and there was only one song made into the Top 10 charts. Even with negative comments, the album became platinum. However, it was just a year before she made an epic comeback.

A Rough Patch

What Could Have Been

We could say that some critics were not satisfied with her new album. However, she was offered an invitation by James Cameron to play a role in Titanic. Although, she turned the offer down because they had a problem in their schedule. She said, “They kept moving my schedule.” Even though she wanted to play a role in the movie, she could not cancel the show because of the sold tickets.

What Could Have Been

Starring As A Socialite

We learned that Reba played the character Molly Brown in the movie. However, the best part of the show was earned by Kathy Bates. It became the 1997 hit film, which got more than two billion dollars throughout the world. It became the second highest-grossing movie in history.

Starring As A Socialite

Climbing To The Top Again

In 1997, Reba had produced her 20th studio album titled What If It’s You. The album became a hit, and many could tell it was an epic comeback from her career. She was not doing well the year before she released the album. Her lead single on the album named The Fear of Being Alone took the No. 1 on the charts. The other songs like How Was I To Know, and I’d Rather Ride Around With You were also on the top position of the charts. She produced a song titled What If for the charity and took the place of No.23 on the charts. All the profit she earned in the song, she decided to donate it to the Salvation Army. Her deed was admirable, and that moment, she was creating her new beginning in her career.

Climbing To The Top Again

Going On The Broadway Stage

In her 2001 album titled Greatest Hits Vol. 3: I’m a Survivor, with three more hits singles. Reba earned the most certified female country music artist ever. Later, she decided to rest in the music industry and entered a new career in the Broadway production of Annie Get Your Gun.

Going On The Broadway Stage

The Best Performance

To the information of The New York Times, Reba’s effort to her career was “without qualification the best performance by an actress in a musical comedy this season.” We could tell that it was a fictional version of Annie Oakley. She was a talented shooter in the Wild West. However, it was just the beginning of her acting career.

The Best Performance

A Self-Titled TV Show

Reba McEntire adored playing a role after her Broadway stint. Later in her career, she appeared on some television projects. In the year 2001, She played a role in Reba, and it was a self-titled sitcom. The show was about a sassy single mother. It was aired on WB and immediately became one of the highest-rated shows on the network. At the program, the singer brought home a Golden Globe. The project had six seasons and was played between the years 2001 to 2006. later, the tv show was transferred to CW for the season-ending. However, the show received a cancellation order even though it was the top-rated sitcom the network had.

A Self-Titled TV Show

Appearing On The Small Screen

At the start of the sitcom, the producer wished that the main character’s name in the sitcom was Sally. However, Reba convinced them to change the main character’s name as her own. She thought that this way, her loyal fans would watch her show. Melissa Peterman played the role of Barbara on the show where Barbara was the villain, and she was the mistress of Reba’s husband. However, we could say they were vicious from each other in the show, yet they were best friends outside of the film.

Appearing On The Small Screen

Stronger Than Before

Reba McEntire would never forget her passion for a music career. In the year 2003, she made an outstanding performance in her 76th single hit. Her 23rd album titled Room to Breathe took the top spot of the charts when it was released. In the year 2007, she was glad she became the female artist with the most nominations in CMA history. We could tell she surpassed Dolly Parton with her achievement. After a year, she began to tour with her fellow country musician named Kelly Clarkson. We could think that Reba was back for business in the music career. It made her fans happy that they heard her lovely voice again. However, she decided to try another career in her life.

Stronger Than Before

The Small Screen Again

Reba appeared on the television screen again. It was 2011 when the show ABC’s Malibu Country was aired. She played the role of Reba Gallagher, a mother of two children that was divorced by her husband. Similar to her previous roles, she uncovered that her husband was unfaithful to her.

The Small Screen Again

Mixed Reviews

In the show,  Reba earned her rights to the Malibu house when the divorce was implemented and decided to start a new beginning on her career in the industry. The sitcom did have different reviews from the people. It might be the most famous comedy show in the network in the year 2012. However, the producer decided to end the series Malibu Country when 18 episodes end.

Mixed Reviews

A New Phase

In the year 2007, Reba gained her 56th Top 10 hit when she reproduced her single hit Cowgirls Don’t Cry with Brooks & Dunn. The result was astonishing when she broke the record of most Top 10 hits by a female country music artist. Dolly Parton was the artist who held the previous record of most Top 10 hits. Later that year, she told the public that she would leave the record label after working for 25 years, which she earned two Grammy Awards and sixty-seven million records sold at the market. After all her success, she made a deal with the Valory Music Group.

A New Phase

Reba’s Alleged Death

In the year 2012, several rumors were saying Reba was dead. The news was telling that Reba was killed when she plunged off the end of a cliff when she was shooting a film in Austria. The information also claimed that she experienced a tragic death. The rumors became a hot topic, which many of her fans were saddened by because of the incident. However, the time when her sister learned the news, she called Reba out of concern. At that moment, Reba stopped the false rumors and stated that she was alive and well. She even posted on her Twitter to tell people that she was okay. She wrote in the post, “There are so many of those hoaxes that are just going around, and I think it’s cruel. That’s not funny.”

Reba’s Alleged Death

Her Biggest Fan

Reba would be inducted at the Country Music Hall of Fame when her father, Clark McEntire, was in a coma after a stroke. It was a glooming situation when we could see the singer was mourning her father’s death. It was October 23, 2014, when her father passed on. However, Dolly Parton was the one who inducted her into the Hall of Fame while Reba was grieving for her father’s death.

Her Biggest Fan

Country Music Hall of Fame

Reba created a music video entitled “Just Like Them Horses” to respect her deceased father. The musician also decided to film it in their family property located in Chockie, Oklahoma, to remember her loving father. She stated that “He ran all the way to heaven. Just like them horses,” and to her statement, the biggest fan of her life was her father.

Country Music Hall Of Fame

The Home Of Our Dreams

We knew that she worked her very best to achieve what she had today. If we questioned what she was doing today, the country singer was relishing everything she got, and we knew she deserved it. She also built a twelve thousand square foot Beverly Hills mansion, with seven beds, nine baths, a spa, a tennis court, and a swimming pool as her reward for herself.

The Home Of Our Dreams

One Of The Priciest Sales

In the year 2015, she thought of selling her mansion to the market. The residence cost nine million dollars in the year 2009. However, there was an individual who bought the house for a total of twenty-two point twenty-five million dollars. We could tell it was the expensive sales in the area.

One Of The Priciest Sales

Nearly Lost Faith

The time before Faith Hill had a successful career, and she tried to audition as a back-up singer for the music country star Reba during the tours. Sadly, she was not qualified for that position, and it was given to Kay Evans who died because of a plane crash in the year 1991.

Nearly Lost Faith

Interview By Larry King

When she became the audience of Larry King, Faith shared her story about why she did not get the position. She said to the interviewer that her performance was not good enough in those days. We were happy to imagine that Faith Hill would not be the person she was today when she got the part of the tour. However, it was sad to know about the people who died in the plane crash, yet we were happy she was still active.

Fame In The Family

Narvel Blackstock was the manager of the singer Kelly Clarkson. The manager was also the reason why she met her husband named Brandon Blackstock. The younger man asked to marry her in the year 2012 at the Super Bowl. It was the day when Kelly sang the national anthem for the people. In the following year, they exchanged their vow and became the official daughter-in-law of Reba.

Fame In The Family

The Best Daughter-In-Law She Could Ask For

The two had bonded together in the past, and both were glad about it. Reba shared her experience with her daughter-in-law and said that “thrilled to death, thrilled to death to have my buddy as my daughter-in-law, I mean, who could ask for more?” And yet, the difficulties they were facing did not end there because Kelly gave birth to the two kids.

The Best Daughter In Law She Could Ask For

Wanting The Best For Everyone

When people questioned their divorce, Reba told us that she would pick to stay married to Narvel Blackstock if she had a choice. We could say she would face many difficulties adjusting her life when the divorce was implemented. However, she also said that her only desire was to make everyone happy.

Wanting The Best For Everyone

Splitting Up

However, it would result in ending their 26-year marriage and would continue her life without Narvel. In her statement, she said, “I just thought it was the best thing to take my marbles and go play somewhere else, is what daddy always used to say,” but she did not know that her husband’s concept of “moving on” was a painful one.

Splitting Up

Too Close To Home

It had been many months when the two had been divorced. However, Narvel started dating different people once more. People had seen him dating Laura Putty Stroud. She was a luxury real estate agent from Nashville and Reba’s best friend. She was the person who the couple trusted the most. In Reba and Narvel 26-year marriage life, the two women remained the closest friends as they could be.

Too Close To Home

Something Very Serious

People saw the two appear in a concert by Katy Perry. An individual who was firmly related to Narvel and Laura shared their relationship as “very serious.” We could not tell why they started dating. However, a lot of people thought Narvel was an unfaithful husband to Reba. We could not believe that he was cheating her wife while they were still married?

A Sticky Situation

We could not say that Kelly Clarkson was having a hard time when Reba and her husband decided for divorce. Kelly was the greatest friend of the country singer. However, Kelly’s husband’s father was Narvel. Some information stated that Kelly wanted to fix the couple’s relationship with each other. However, we could tell that she was the reason why the couple’s marriage lasted for a longer time. Also, some news stated that Reba and Narvel were residing separately for several years before their divorce was finalized. All the difficulty and trouble Reba experienced, She and Kelly still supported each other.

A Sticky Situation

Time To Move On

After the divorce was finalized, Narvel carried on being a manager for another year. We knew that these two had been professionally working together since 1988. In 2016, Reba had thought that it was time to make her professional career. She decided to create her own company named Reba’s Business Inc. It was established for young artists who wanted to grow.

Time To Move On

Reba McEntire

Reba decided to start her brand of merchandise, which would supply various jewelry, home decor, beauty products, and clothing. We could have a chance to find these items at the local Cracker Barrel gift shop. The famous musician had an actual net worth of ninety-five million dollars. In the year 2017, she stated that she would like to start dating again.

Reba McEntire

Passionate About Photos

If we ever looked at her Instagram profile, we could say that she loved taking pictures. The singer mentioned to a country music website called The Boot that she adored photos. She would snap every image she could make. Everywhere she would like to go, and she would find someone to take a picture of her. She said, “I love to piddle with my pictures. I am a big picture fanatic,” She also added. “I love it when people send me pictures that I don’t have. I can scan them and put them on my computer, and I am archiving right now.”

Passionate About Photos

Pals With Presidents

We could tell that the people around her adored Reba, and she was the friendliest person we could meet. The singer’s great personality was the reason why she could get along with other people. Most of her friends were famous personalities like 43rd President Of The United States George W. Bush and his father 41st President Of The United States George H. W. Bush. She shared her experience of being with the president, and she stated that “We email each other on our Treos all the time — nothing political, just passing jokes back and forth,” she also said, “He’s really into the e-mail and so are his buddies. Senior Bush invited my husband [Narvel Blackstock] and me on a private cruise to the Greek islands years ago. We became very good friends, and that’s when the e-mail stuff started.”

Pals With Presidents

She Loves Shooting

Reba was similar to a regular country girl. We could tell being that kind of woman, and she would love to see a gun and try to shoot them. Reba shared with the public that she was not taught how to shoot during her childhood days. However, the singer had a shooting lesson when she would appear in a movie called Buffalo Girls. She remembered everything she experienced and stated to the public that, “When I found out that I was going to do a movie called ‘Buffalo Girls’ with Anjelica Huston several years prior to this, I went and learned how to skeet shoot and trap shoot because I wanted to be able to look like I knew how to shoot a gun because we never did that when we were home in Oklahoma.”

She Loves Shooting

A Different Kind Of Album

In the year February 3, 2017, Reba produced her first-ever gospel album titled Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope. Her creation had two discs. Each had a different idea. The first one was filled with traditional hymns, and the other was full of her original songs.

A Different Kind Of Album

Gospel Album In The Making

Reba shared that she had a great idea of how she could produce a gospel album from her previous manager, Bill Carter. It would be her 28th studio album and filled with her favorite songs that she had gathered all over the years. She got the motivation to do the album because of her hymn book when she was a child.

Gospel Album In The Making

The First Female Colonel Sanders

In the year of 2018, Reba McEntire also worked in the fast-food industry where she was given a job to be the first-ever female Colonel Sanders in a commercial of the original KFC. The promotion was a part of their newly released product named “Smoky Mountain BBQ.” In the ad, she was singing while she was dressed up in a Colonel’s outfit, and she even threw her hat onto the audience. The hat had perfectly landed on the head of Reba without the costume.

The First Female Colonel Sanders

Rather Strange

We could not refute that I might be an odd idea, yet she was determined to do it. Reba shared her experience with the offer to the insiders,” Absolutely, I want to do that. Who wouldn’t want to be the first female Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel?” She had a wonderful time with her unique experience that was given to her. She also stated, “It feels very good.” She also added, ” And my goatee tickles a little bit … and my mustache. But I am a pretty good looking gray-haired man.”

Rather Strange

The Legacy Of A Country Music Icon

Reba McEntire had been busy in her career since the ’70s. However, she did not show any sign of retirement in the industry. In her career, Reba McEntire produced 29 studio albums, 16 No. 1 albums, and 40 No. 1 hit singles. Twenty-seven of her records became gold, platinum, or even multi-platinum, We could not tell what would happen in her future, but we knew she would succeed in her later life.

The Legacy Of A Country Music Icon

Circulating Rumors

According to the news, she appeared in a television show which we could distinguish as a “southern gothic soap opera.” We prayed that she would have a successful career like in the past. It might be a lot of pressure, but we knew she would be able to do everything as long as she was determined.

Circulating Rumors