McEntire, Reba (1955-…), ranks among the most popular singers in the history of country music. McEntire sings in a traditional country style. Her strong voice and straightforward, emotional manner are well suited to her songs about the struggles of ordinary women. McEntire has won a number of Grammy Awards and other awards for her music. She is also an actress.
Reba Nell McEntire was born in McAlester, Oklahoma, on March 28, 1955. Her father was a rodeo steer roper and cattle rancher. In high school, Reba competed in rodeos as a barrel racer and sang with her brothers and sisters as the Singing McEntires. She wanted to be a teacher, like her mother, and graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 1976. She signed a recording contract that year after attracting attention with her singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the national rodeo finals in 1975.
McEntire did not have a hit recording until “(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven” in 1980. Her first number-one single was “Can’t Even Get the Blues” (1982). Beginning in the mid-1980’s, McEntire recorded a steady stream of number-one records and won numerous awards as the most popular female country singer. Her number-one singles include “How Blue” (1984), “Little Rock” (1986), “You Lie” (1990), “If You See Him/If You See Her” (1998), “Somebody” (2004), and “Turn On The Radio” (2010). Her most popular albums include What Am I Gonna Do About You (1986), Read My Mind (1994), Reba Duets (2007), Keep on Loving You (2009), Love Somebody (2015), and Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope (2017).
McEntire wrote a best-selling autobiography, Reba: My Story (1994). McEntire has also appeared in several motion pictures, including Tremors (1990), North (1994), and The Little Rascals (1994). She won praise for her performance in a revival of the Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun in 2001 and in a concert version of South Pacific in Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2005. McEntire starred in the television comedy series “Reba” (2001-2007), in which she played a divorced single mother juggling family responsibilities. She also starred in the television comedy series “Malibu Country” (2012-2013) about a woman who divorces her unfaithful husband and moves her family from Nashville to Malibu, California. She was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2011.
