Latest Release
- OCT 11, 2024
- 1 Song
- Wrapped In Red · 2013
- Reba McEntire: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 · 1990
- For My Broken Heart · 1991
- For My Broken Heart · 1991
- Reba #1's · 2001
- Keep On Loving You · 2009
- Dear Rodeo - Single · 2020
- Secret of Giving - A Christmas Collection · 1999
- It's Your Call · 1992
- Be a Light (feat. Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin & Keith Urban) - Single · 2020
Essential Albums
- On March 16, 1991, eight members of McEntire's touring group were killed in an airplane crash near San Diego. Her grief over the loss found expression in one of her most poignant and enduring albums, For My Broken Heart. Themes of separation and loneliness tinge many of the tracks with melancholy, heightened by Reba's deeply expressive singing. "All Dressed Up (With Nowhere to Go)" deals with the isolation of the elderly, while "The Greatest Man I Never Knew" mourns the emotional distance between father and child. The longing for freedom heard in "Is There Life Out There" adds another shade of yearning. For balance, McEntire offers her version of the '70s pop story-song "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" with melodramatic flair. For all its meditations on sorrow, For My Broken Heart is ultimately a work of healing, as well as a modern-day country classic.
- Put the accent on the first and last words in the title and you’ll grasp the concept behind My Kind Of Country (1984). It took six albums for Reba McEntire to find her own identity amidst the bland Urban Cowboy-isms of late ‘70s/early ‘80s Nashville. Finally asserting control, she returned to her Oklahoma roots and found common cause with the emerging New Traditionalist movement. My Kind Of Country jettisoned fancy string arrangements in favor of stripped-down instrumentation and solid country songcraft. Most importantly, Reba fully unleashed her voice, conveying depths of sorrow and flashes of fire never fully expressed on record before. You can hear the difference in the hits “How Blue” (an outstanding honky-tonk mood piece) and “Somebody Should Leave” (an honest look at divorce co-written by Music Row great Harlan Howard). McEntire dips back into Nashville history for tunes like “He’s Only Everything,” “Before I Met You” and “Don’t You Believe Her,” dressing them up smartly in fiddle and pedal steel guitar. The individual tracks work together to make McEntire a vivid presence, a figure at once tender-hearted and unconquerable. Reba got it right here, and the results launched her into country superstardom at last.
Artist Playlists
- Warm, direct vocals ground a mix of authentic country and pop.
- The Queen of Country opens her home for the holidays.
- The country legend gives us a peek at her inspirations.
Appears On
More To Hear
- Zane Lowe, Nadeska, Dotty, and guests in Las Vegas.
- Reba talks favorites, her new record, and working with Dave.
- Reba McEntire joins to celebrate her latest album release
About Reba McEntire
It's impossible to imagine the '80s country music scene without Reba McEntire—but thanks to her tireless work ethic and potent combination of talent and charisma, the Oklahoma native grew into a pop culture icon whose relevance transcends eras and genres. Born in 1955, she first entertained audiences as a teen on the rodeo circuit alongside her siblings in The Singing McEntires; her performance of the national anthem at the 1974 National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City led to a record contract. Her self-titled debut arrived in 1977, and six years later she reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the first time, with the stomping “Can’t Even Get the Blues No More.” From there, McEntire became a mainstay of the decade's new traditionalist movement, thanks to wistful, slide guitar- and fiddle-propelled songs like “Somebody Should Leave” and “You're the First Time I've Thought About Leaving” that highlighted her mournful but muscular alto. McEntire landed a spot at the Grand Ole Opry in 1986, but her ambition and magnetic presence helped her land crossover success. She kicked off her Hollywood career with a hilarious role in Tremors (1990), took a turn on Broadway as Annie Oakley in the 2001 revival of Annie Get Your Gun, and then launched her hit sitcom Reba later that year. McEntire hasn't stopped releasing new music; in 2019, she proved herself as energetic and adaptable as ever with the Grammy-nominated gospel album Stronger Than the Truth. "Who I am is who I want to be," she declares on Reba's theme song, "I'm a Survivor," which has proven to be an apt summary of her career.
- HOMETOWN
- McAlester, OK, United States
- BORN
- March 28, 1955
- GENRE
- Country