Biography for
Reba McEntire More at IMDb Pro »

Date of Birth

28 March 1955, McAlester, Oklahoma, USA

Birth Name

Reba Nell McEntire

Nickname

The Queen of Country Music
Big Red

Height

5' 7" (1.70 m)

Mini Biography

The reigning queen of country music has pursued a musical career since the age of 5. In junior high, she performed with her siblings as the Singing McEntires. A fine athlete, McEntire followed in the footsteps of her rodeo champion father in competitive barrel racing. Her performance of the "Star Spangled Banner" at the 1974 National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City caught the attention of songwriter, Red Steagall who suggested she consider a career in country music. She has since earned 7 gold and 5 platinum albums and 2 Grammy Awards. She has also explored other avenues of entertainment, serving as a guest host on "Good Morning, America" and earning generally favorable reviews for her acting in the movie Tremors (1990) and the miniseries Buffalo Girls (1995) (TV). In 1988, she formed Starstruck Entertainment to oversee the various aspects of her career.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ray Hamel

Mini Biography

Has a home North of Lebanon, TN (30 miles east of Nashville) on the Cumberland River by US Highway 109 at the Wilson County, Sumner County border.

IMDb Mini Biography By:

Spouse

Narvel Blackstock	(3 June 1989 - present) 1 child
Charlie Battles	(21 June 1976 - 1987) (divorced)

Trade Mark

Red hair

Oklahoma accent

Trivia

Her sister, Susie Luchsinger, (Susie McEntire) is a Christian music star.

Was James Cameron's first choice to play "the unsinkable" Molly Brown in Titanic (1997), but she had to decline because her touring schedule overlapped the filming date.

1991: Her entire band died in a plane crash.

February 1990: Son Shelby Steven McEntire Blackstock born.

1993: Had a patch of skin cancer on her forehead removed.

1996 tour statistics: 16 trucks, 7 buses, 1 jet, 100 dates (12,500 per date) concerts, 200-foot expandable stages, 3 separate performance areas, 10 dancers, 5 video cameras, 6 video screens, 96-person crew, 40 tons of equipment.

2000: Named the #2 Best-selling Female Artist (of all genres) of All Time, following Barbra Streisand.

2000L Named the #1 Best-selling Female Country Singer of All Time.

Attendend Kiowa High School and Southeastern State University.

Her first public performance was "Away In A Manger" for a first-grade Christmas production.

Majored in Elementary Education and minored in Music.

Daughter of Jacqueline (11/6/1926) and Clark McEntire (11/30/1927).

Sister of Alice Foran (b. 3 December 1951), Pake McEntire (b. 23 June 1953), and Susie Luchsinger (b. 8 November 1957) (Susie McEntire).

Has won two Grammy awards, nine People's Choice Awards (for singing *and* acting), seven CMA (Country Music Association) Awards (including an unprecedented Female Vocalist of the Year four years in a row), two Country Radio Awards, 11 ACM (Academy of Country Music) Awards (including an unprecedented Top Female Vocalist seven times), 14 American Music Awards (including an unprecedented Favorite Female Country Singer 10 times), five TNN/Music City News Awards, three International Awards and the 2001 Drama Desk Award for her Broadway debut in "Annie Get Your Gun."

1995: Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Her father, Clark McEntire (1927- ), was world steer roping champion for the years 1957-1958 & 1961. He was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame of the Rodeo Historical Society (a support group of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum) in 1988.

Her grandfather, John Wesley McEntire (1897-1976 ), was world steer roping champion for 1934 and was also a calf roper. He was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame of the Rodeo Historical Society (a support group of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum) in 1984.

Garett Beck is her niece.

At one time was a classmate of Garth Brooks, in Oklahoma.

Personal Quotes

You don't waste your entire life waiting to go back to dust.

Being a strong woman is very important to me. But doing it all on my own is not.

Easter is very important to me, it's a second chance.

[when asked by Larry King if she had ever been asked to "sex it up" a little] I'm more of the down-home -- I guess, you know, the good-old girl. Being sexy is kind of funny to me. You know, I can get kind of spunky or I can get tough, you know, that kind of tough, sexy look. But sexy? No, I don't think so. Just what you see is what you get on me. And it's never been anything of a sexual nature.

To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone."

Be different, stand out, and work your butt off.

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