Biography of Reba McentireReba Nell McEntire was born on March 28, 1955, in McAlester, Oklahoma. As children, she and the other McEntire siblings, Pake, Alice and Susie, were taught how to ride in rodeos by their father Clark, a rancher and rodeo steer roper. They were also taught music and how to sing in harmony by their mother, Jackie. The vocal quartet scored a local hit in 1971 with "The Ballad of John McEntire," a musical tribute to their grandfather (who had been a world-champion steer roper).
In 1974, following her moving rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" at the National Rodeo Finals in Oklahoma City, Reba was encouraged to move to Nashville and pursue a solo career. Although initially apprehensive about abandoning her singing siblings, she ultimately decided to make the move.
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Reba was signed by Mercury Records in 1975, and released her first single later that year. She married Charlie Battles, a professional steer wrestler, in June of 1976, the same year that she completed her degree in Elementary Education (her safety net in case of a failed music career).
The hard honky-tonk sound that Reba started out failed to catch on at first. After releasing several singles, however, she landed her first hit in 1978 with "Three Sheets in the Wind." It would take her another two years to score another major hit, when "(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven" reached the Top 10 in 1980.
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Reba's audience began to grow significantly as she shed her honky-tonk sound in favor of pop-oriented ballads. She scored her first country No. 1 in late 1982 with the single "Can't Even Get the Blues." After moving over to MCA Records in 1984, her popularity grew immensely. She became one of the top-selling country artists of the next decade, enjoying 24 consecutive Top 10 hits, including more than a dozen No. 1 singles.
McEntire's 1986 album Whoever's in New England became her first platinum seller, and won her a Grammy in 1987 for Best Country Vocal Performance. She scored three chart-topping songs that year, in addition to the million-selling album The Last One to Know.
Her 1987 seasonal offering, Merry Christmas to You, sold two million copies, while her Greatest Hits collection (released that same year) went triple-platinum. But 1987 wasn't an entirely happy year for Reba; on a personal front, she and Battles were divorced.
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In 1988, McEntire founded Starstruck Entertainment, then released Reba, which became her fifth straight platinum-selling disc. In June of 1989, she married Narvel Blackstock, her guitarist turned road manager, and together they began overseeing all aspects of her career. She added two more No. 1 singles to her resume, including a cover of the Everly Brothers' classic "Cathy's Clown," as well as a pair of platinum albums.
Reba's son, Shelby Steven McEntire Blackstock, was born in February of 1990, the same year that she made her big screen debut as gun-crazy survivalist Heather Gummer in the cult classic Tremors. She also contributed "Why Not Tonight" to the film's soundtrack, then topped the country charts with "You Lie," from the double-platinum Rumor Has It LP.
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On March 16, 1991, seven members of Reba's touring band died in a plane crash following a concert. She released the single "For My Broken Heart" shortly thereafter, which topped the country charts. The critically-acclaimed album of the same name, issued that October, went on to sell three million copies, producing another No. 1 hit in "Is There Life Out There."
As her musical career showed little sign of slowing down, Reba pursued more acting roles, appearing in the made-for-TV movies The Gambler Returns (1991) with Kenny Rogers and The Man from Left Field (1993) with Burt Reynolds, then guest starring as herself in the sitcom Evening Shade, also in 1993.
Her Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (1993) sold four million units. One of its tracks, a duet with Linda Davis titled "Does He Love You," went on to win the Grammy for Best Country Vocal Collaboration.
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In 1994, Reba had a small role in the film North, made a cameo in The Little Rascals and starred in the made-for-TV film Is There Life Out There?, which also produced her first executive producer credit. Her album Read My Mind went triple platinum that same year. In 1995, she played the legendary Annie Oakley in the CBS miniseries Buffalo Girls, which costarred Anjelica Huston as Calamity Jane.
Reba had been director James Cameron's initial choice to portray Molly Brown in Titanic (1997), but her touring schedule interfered with the film's shooting dates. She starred as a woman who awakens from a coma after 20 years in the TV movie Forever Love (1998) and also served as its executive producer. She wore the same hat for 1999's The Secret of Giving, a Christmas made-for-TV movie set in the Old West.
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In 2001, Reba won rave reviews for her turn as Annie Oakley on Broadway in Annie Get Your Gun. She also appeared in the big screen comedy One Night at McCool's, which costarred Matt Dillon and Liv Tyler.
Her sitcom Reba debuted on the WB in October of 2001, and the show quickly became the network's top-rated comedy series. Her Greatest Hits Volume III (2001) included "I'm A Survivor," the show's theme song.
Reba collected a People's Choice Award as Favorite Female Performer in a New Television Series in 2002, and became a co-executive producer of the series in 2003. She was nominated for a 2004 Golden Globe in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series -- Musical or Comedy. She then provided her voice to two animated features, Charlotte's Web and The Fox and The Hound II.
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