| Reba
McEntire was one of the most
successful new country vocalists to
emerge in the early '80s. The only
problem was, she began her recording
career in the mid-'70s. It may have
taken her several years to reach the top
of the country charts, but once she got
there she stayed there -- McEntire was
the single most successful female
country vocalist of the '80s and '90s,
scoring a consistent stream of Top Ten
singles and a grand total of 18 number
one singles.
McEntire is the daughter of Clark
EcEntire, a professional rodeo rider. As
a child, Reba was a rodeo rider, as were
her sisters Alice and Susie and her
brother Pake. While their father taught
them how to ride, their mother, Jackie,
taught them music. As young adults, the
four siblings formed a vocal group that
landed a local hit in 1971 with "The
Ballad of John McEntire," a song
dedicated to their grandfather.
The McEntire children intended to
become a professional singing group, but
those plans were thrown for a loop when
Reba sang the national anthem at the
National Rodeo Finals in Oklahoma City
in 1974. Red Steagall had heard her sing
the anthem and immediately suggested
that she go to Nashville and record a
demo. McEntire was initially hesitant to
pursue a solo career, but the family
eventually decided it was better for her
to take the chance while it was there.
With some help from Steagall,
McEntire signed with Mercury Records in
1975, releasing her first record that
same year. Initially, she was a
traditional hard country singer at a
time when the radio wasn't receptive to
that sound -- her first singles didn't
come close to cracking the Top 40.
Around the time of the release of her
first album, she married Charlie
Battles, a professional steer wrestler
and bulldogger, and completed her
teaching degree, in case her musical
career floundered.
In 1978, McEntire began to make some
headway on the charts, as the double
A-sided "Three Sheets in the Wind"/"I'd
Really Love to See You Tonight" reached
number 20. However, she didn't have any
significant hits until the summer of
1980, when "(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven"
made it to number eight. By this time,
she had begun to cut more
ballad-oriented material and the slight
shift in musical direction paid off.
McEntire stayed with Mercury Records for
three more years. In that time, her
audience dramatically expanded -- at the
end of 1982, she had her first number
one single, "Can't Even Get the Blues."
McEntire switched labels in 1984,
abandoning Mercury for MCA Records. At
MCA, she established herself as one of
the decade's most popular artists,
selling over 20 million albums and
winning four Female Vocalist of the Year
awards from the Country Music
Association. Between 1985 and 1992, she
had 24 straight Top Ten hits, including
14 number one singles. McEntire began
toying with rock and pop influences,
both in her music and in her image.
McEntire divorced Charlie Battles in
1987. Two years after the divorce, she
married Narvel Blackstock, her road
manager and steel guitarist; the pair
assumed complete control of all aspects
of her career, from recording to
merchandising and marketing. In the
'90s, McEntire stayed as popular as she
was in the previous decade, as both her
albums and her singles consistently
charted in the Top Ten, frequently at
number one. McEntire also begun an
acting career in the early '90s,
appearing in TV movies and feature
films, most notably the cult horror film
Tremors. She released If You See Him in
1998, returning a year later with a
second seasonal collection, The Secret
of Giving, as well as So Good Together. |
