If you don’t know anything about country music, know this: Among some of the greats like, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, and Loretta Lynn, is one fiery redhead named Reba McEntire . She’s responsible for not only countless Country hits, but a hit sitcom on CMT called, Reba .
Here are some interesting facts about the country star that fans might not know!
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1. In the early ’90s, several members of her band and her tour manager passed away in a plane crash.
“Music has helped me in so many different ways. After I lost seven of my band members and my tour manager in a plane crash in ’91, we went to the studio and started recording songs,” she told Saturday Evening Post .
2. She supports the LGBTQ community.
She has expressed her intolerance for bigotry time and time again in interviews with LGBTQ magazines, like Pride Source , and explained that she has plenty of gay friends who have her unwavering support.
3. Kelly Clarkson is her daughter-in-law.
Evidently, music runs in the family!
Kelly Clarkson is married to Reba’s husband’s son from a previous marriage, making her Reba’s step-daughter-in-law. The two have even sung duets before!
4. Her manager, Narvel Blackstock, was also her husband for 26 years.
While Reba and Narvel had a great run, personally and professionally, they ultimately did not go the distance.
Fortunately, their divorce did not seem messy, and Reba found love with someone new, an oil geologist named Anthony Lasuzzo.
5. Her father was very strict.
“First of all, my parents. My mama’s a little spitfire. There are about 50 things that I can hear her saying in my mind, but the number one thing is, ‘I love you gobs and gobs.’ Daddy was the strict disciplinarian, a hard-working man with little patience,” she told Saturday Evening Post .
6. She is a spokesperson for the charity, Outnumber Hunger.
“It’s important to help people who are hungry. Outnumber Hunger is a partnership between General Mills and Big Machine Label Group, which is my label. I’m trying to get this out so people can help. And they can help Feeding America secure five meals on behalf of their local food bank by entering codes from specially marked packages at outnumberhunger.com,” she told WebMD .
7. She is competetive.
In an interview with Saturday Evening Post , Reba admitted that she is a tough competitor, no matter the game.
Whether it’s a simple game of Monopoly or a heated sporting match, Reba is in it to win it!
8. She wishes country radio stations would go back to playing more traditional country music, rather than pop-country hybrids.
In an interview with The Boot in 2019, she revealed that she was planning on releasing a classic country album, but acknowledged that it probably wouldn’t be something fans would expect to hear on the radio .
“Give [country music] a nudge back in a more traditional direction. Because the songs that I chose for this album might not be things that the record label would think radio would play,” she said.
“I don’t know. You know, radio in country music is changing a lot,” she continued. “I’m hoping it’s going back to more traditional country. And if so, I’m right there ready for the songs to be played.”
9. Walking is her favorite exercise.
“I do my little routine of stretching, sit-ups, push-ups, and planks every morning. When the weather gets warmer I’ll be outside walking, my favorite type of exercise,” she told WebMD .
10. Her single “Can’t Even Get the Blues” was the first song that ever got her to the top of the country charts.
It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly 40 years since Reba’s first hit single !
Where does the time go, amirite?
11. She is religious, but understands why it is problematic to some people.
I mean, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise since she has several songs with references to god. But she has admitted that she struggles with religion from time to time.
“You know, sometimes I struggle with religion because there are so many, but if you read all of ’em, all of the different religions, there is one underlying thing: God wants us to love each other. Treat people like you want to be treated and love each other – that’s not hard, but in a sense, it is. But that’s it. He just wants us to love each other, and I think that’s what we all really need to work on,” she told Pride Source .
12. Her mother passed away earlier this year of cancer at 93 years old.
“It was a true blessing … It really was,” she told TODAY . “I got to stay there at Mama’s house and help … clean everything out. We had so many great times, going through drawers and boxes, and found pictures we’d never seen before, and we cried, we laughed, we toasted Mama. It was just an absolute, huge blessing to get to do that.”
13. She prefers not to get into any political discussions with family members that might not agree with her.
When asked if she ever gets into political debates with her family members, Reba told Pride Source :
“I don’t talk politics because I think there are a lot more things I can contribute to the world without arguing with somebody about politics.”
