Reba Nell McEntire

Reba Nell McEntire was born in McAlester, Oklahoma on March 28, 1955, and raised on a 7,000-acre cattle ranch in nearby Chockie. Her father Clark McEntire was a three-time World Champion Steer Roper. As children, Reba and her siblings Pake and Susie formed The Singing McEntires, practicing three-part harmonies in the backseat as their mother Jacqueline drove the rodeo circuit.

In December 1974, 19-year-old Reba sang the National Anthem at the National Rodeo Finals in Oklahoma City. Western singer Red Steagall was so stunned that he financed her first Nashville demo sessions, leading to a Mercury Records contract in November 1975.

For nearly eight years Mercury tried to fit her into a country-pop mold. Late in 1982 she finally claimed her first Billboard No. 1, “Can't Even Get the Blues,” followed by “You're the First Time I've Thought About Leaving” (1983).

Fed up with orchestral sweetening, Reba confronted Jimmy Bowen, the new head of MCA Nashville: “I said, ‘I would really like things more country. I don't want orchestra and violins. I want a steel guitar and a fiddle.’ That started me having control of the songs that I recorded.”

The resulting 1984 album My Kind of Country was a watershed, triggering a historic four-year sweep of the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Award (1984–1987).

Faced with unspeakable sorrow, McEntire and producer Tony Brown channeled the devastation into For My Broken Heart, dedicated as “a form of healing for all our broken hearts.”

Released October 1, 1991, it reached No. 3 on Billboard Top Country Albums and No. 13 on the Billboard 200 — the first album by a female country artist to go Double Platinum, eventually certified 4× Platinum.

“Is There Life Out There” became an anthem for millions of women returning to college and reclaiming their independence.

Replacing Bernadette Peters as sharpshooter Annie Oakley, Reba silenced skeptics. Ben Brantley of The New York Times called it “one of the season's best in a musical comedy,” and Playbill heralded a “New Force of Nature” on Broadway.

She brought genuine Oklahoma cowgirl grit, razor-sharp comic timing and phrasing that made Irving Berlin's 1946 melodies sound fresh. Her fringed stage costume now resides at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Premiering October 5, 2001, Reba debuted to the highest ratings for any comedy in The WB's history, running six seasons and 127 episodes and earning a Golden Globe nomination.

In 2005 she launched her lifestyle brand at Dillard's and REBA by Justin™ boots. With Brooks & Dunn, Together in Vegas became the longest-running, highest-grossing country residency in The Colosseum's history.

In 2026 she marked the show's 25th anniversary with the I'm A Survivor EP and starred in NBC's Happy's Place.

In 2013–2014 the Hall mounted the ten-month exhibition “Reba: All The Women I Am.” In December 2018 she received the 41st Kennedy Center Honors, celebrated by Kelly Clarkson's blistering “Fancy.”

In October 2026, McEntire opened her personal archive for a Julien's Auctions benefit at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium, supporting The Reba McEntire Fund.