INTERVIEW: Reba McEntire on Her Career, Life and Biggest Hits

When I said in 1984 that I’m ready to stick my foot in the door for the women of country music and carry the banner for the women of country music, because so many people had paved the road for me, Loretta, Kitty Wells, Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Anne Murray, Tammy Wynette, and now it’s my turn to extend the pavement a little bit further. I knew it was my responsibility.

It’s real-life; it’s a rags to riches, it’s Cinderella, it’s Annie Oakley, but I knew it wasn’t probably the proper thing to do because Jimmy Bowen, my producer before Tony Brown, I’d asked to do it then. And he said, “Oh woman, you don’t need to do that kind of song, it’s about a prostitute.” And I said, “Well, I know, that’s everyday life.” So was cheating, so was divorce, that’s everyday life.

“Take it Back” is a wonderful song, up-tempo. And I was always looking for up-tempo, because Jerry Kennedy, my first producer at Polygram Mercury, called me the queen of the waltzes, queen of ballads. And so I wanted to do more up-tempo songs. And so to have this song, it was fun, up-tempo, sassy, and I absolutely loved it. Just what I was looking for.

I didn’t know if it was God’s way of jerking my chain, saying slow down. I’m not going to put that on him. It just happened. I don’t know why. Things happen for a reason. That’s one of the questions I’m asking when I get up there. But afterwards, it made us really focus on day by day, instead of what are we going to do tomorrow? What are we going to do next year? Don’t even think about the past. Don’t even think about the future. Focus on the day that you have and enjoy it while you have it.

I did it for them, but I still had two band members and crew to think of, an organization that we had to move forward. That first time on stage though was hard. I mean I couldn’t turn around.

When I was playing basketball in high school, I had gone to a basketball camp in Eufaula, Oklahoma. And they gave a little program out of words of encouragement. And on one page, it said, “Little Eyes Are Watching.” And it was a poem. And I knew that what that meant is whatever you do on stage or off stage, little eyes are watching and that’s going to influence another human being’s life one way or the other is how you act. So when I got that position of country music, I knew that it was my job not only to pave the way, but little eyes are watching. So be careful what you do. So it’s a huge responsibility that I took on with open arms.

“Heart Won’t Lie” was a song we were trying to get a duet on with Kenny Rogers, and the keys just would not work. Then I took the song, and did the duet with Vince. I didn’t tell Kenny, which was my mistake, totally. Kenny approached me at the CMA Awards. He said, “Why did you do that?” I said, Kenny, “I am so sorry. We were just going so fast. It’s a great, wonderful song. I never even considered coming back, and talking to you about that, and that’s one of the things I totally regret.” I hugged his neck, and I told him I was terribly sorry. But I did not do that maliciously.

Linda was singing backup harmonies with me on the road. She was on tour with me and Linda’s a wonderful singer, one of my favorite singers on earth. And the record label wanted one of the label girls to sing the song with me. And I said, “Well, can Linda come in and just kind of like be a placeholder?” And they said, “Yeah.” And after she did it, Tony Brown said, “Oh my gosh, we got our duet right here.” Kind of sneaky, wasn’t it?

Oh, “Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind,” I had that on hold three or four times, we kept taking it off. It was because cold, Fort Worth cold, and it had beer in it and back in those days, I didn’t associate myself with beer, whiskey, cigarettes, anything like that. Although I do drink, I don’t smoke, but it just wasn’t there. Once again, little eyes are watching, so I wanted to keep it clean. So George Strait got it. Let him do it.

There was a song of hope, encouragement. I absolutely love that song. I can still see me driving to work and I was at this intersection and I thought, “Oh man, Tricia Ann, she can relate to this. Alice could relate. Susie, me, I can relate to this song. Everybody I know can relate to this song. Is there life out there? Absolutely, there is. Get off your tail, whatever you need to do and enjoy what you have, what you can have. It’s never too late to enjoy life.”

I’ve never seen a woman work so much harder than her male counterparts. She’s just not afraid of anything. And she was always just working so hard and she had to work so much harder than a lot of the guys that didn’t have to do as much. But man, wasn’t it worth it? What an icon.

I love everything about her. I love her personality. I love her music. I love how she’s constantly expanded her brand between acting and music. She just dominates everything she’s ever done. And it’s really inspiring to be a young woman in country music and to have someone like Reba McEntire to look up to. I love her. Everyone loves her. She’s Reba.