Reba McEntire nearly talked her mother out of the drive to Nashville
In March 1975 a young Oklahoma ranch girl kept inventing reasons for her mother to pull over rather than continue to Nashville. Her mother said she would turn around if asked, but admitted she was living her dreams through her daughter. Reba McEntire stayed in the car and became the Queen of Country.
She grew up on a cattle ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma, doing chores before and after school, in a family of rodeo champions; her father won the world steer-roping title three times. Her mother, who had once hoped to sing professionally, taught the children harmonies on car trips to rodeos, and the siblings performed as the Singing McEntires. Reba studied elementary education at Southeastern Oklahoma State University while still singing.
The break came through the rodeo. Hired to sing the national anthem at the National Finals Rodeo in 1974, she caught the ear of country artist Red Steagall, who later said he could not take all three siblings, but he could take Reba. A Mercury producer took her demo to headquarters alongside another woman's tape, was told to pick one, and handed over hers.
Success was slow. Her 1976 debut single peaked at number 88, and she sometimes filled stage time with jokes when house bands did not know country music. Her own band later toured in a three-car caravan with a horse trailer for the gear. Her first number one, Can't Even Get the Blues, landed in 1983 while her bus was broken down. Unhappy with the soft pop sound Mercury pushed, she moved to MCA in 1984, and My Kind of Country, a more traditional record, made her a star.
In 1991 eight members of her band died in a plane crash in San Diego, and the album that followed, For My Broken Heart, became her best seller. She has placed more than 100 singles on the country chart, 24 of them number ones, sold over 75 million records, played Annie Oakley on Broadway and led her own sitcom, Reba, for six seasons.
Source: Reba McEntire
