Reba McEntire joins Hunter Kelly for an interview on Proud Radio to discuss her latest album release ‘Revived Remixed Revisited,’ her catalog, Broadway influences, drag performers homages and more. Tune in and listen to the full interview with Reba McEntire this Sunday (Oct. 10) at 2pm PT / 4pm CT / 5pm ET or anytime on-demand here.
Reba McEntire on singing with Dolly Parton on “Does He Love You”
I asked her when we were shooting the video. She said, “I just sing what I feel.” I said, “How did you come up with when you came in and all that?” She said, “I just sing what I feel.” And I loved it. I don’t know how many takes she did. Probably one. It was so powerful when she does come on strong, when I’m deceiving myself. It was just, oh my gosh, gave me chills. And I sat there the first time I heard it, I said, “Play it again.”
Reba McEntire on working with Dave Cobb on the ‘Revisited’ album
The way that Dave Cobb did the arrangements, it allowed for more emotion. It allowed for a softer approach. Like “Consider Me Gone,” on the original, it’s more “I’m in your face and by golly, you’re not going to treat me like this.” But with the Dave Cobb sessions, it’s more like, “Come in, have a seat. We need to talk about this. If I’m not the one that trips your trigger, then just consider me gone. I’ll go pack my bag, and we’ll just call it a day.” And there’s no big drama about it the way the original was. And that’s why I love the Dave Cobb album [Revisited], probably more than the other two [Revived Remixed], because to me, it just slowed things down and gave a more peaceful approach.
Reba McEntire on Dreamgirls, Barbara Mandrell and Broadway influencing her performance style
Hunter Kelly: The thing that we uncovered in putting these liner notes together with you [for ‘Revived Remixed Revisited’] was discovering where that started for you, with the first Broadway show that you ever saw, and this is one of the moments where my life made sense. Reba, what was that first Broadway show you saw in 1984 with your manager?
Reba McEntire: It was with Don Williams, Andy Williams’ brother, and it was Dreamgirls. Loved it. I absolutely loved it. And then watching Barbara Mandrell do her show and all the clothes changes where she’d be in a garage overall and they’d pull it off of her with Velcro, who’s now our best friend, and then she’d have on this beautiful bugle-beaded gown and… Barbara and Dreamgirls changed my life completely on how I wanted to perform.
Reba McEntire on drag performers homages
Hunter Kelly: The first time I ever saw a drag queen Reba was at your show in ’96. I saw your tour in Memphis at the Pyramid, and you had a drag queen, David, also known as Coti Collins, onstage performing the first part of “Fancy.” I mean, this is some country music history that should be celebrated. Where did you find Coti?
Reba McEntire: We went down on Broadway, and he was performing there. And we went down and watched the show, and got in touch with him, and he went on tour with us.
Hunter Kelly: This is just mind blowing. Because he would perform “Fancy” on one side of the stage, and then all the lights would go dark at the point where you usually take off your fur coat, and then you, the real Reba, were at the other end of the arena instantaneously being lifted up in a cherry picker, and it seemed like you’d been teleported instantly. It was the most amazing bells and whistles. It still… I just… I remember… And then finding out that it was Coti.
Reba McEntire on working with makeup and more celebrating drag performers
Hunter Kelly: From the beginning, when you first had drag queens come to your show, you were like, “I want to see how they do me.”
Reba McEntire: Yeah. I wanted to see how they did their makeup, because they always looked so good.
Hunter Kelly: You did your own makeup a lot of the time back in the day. You got makeup credit on your records.
Reba McEntire: Oh, I did my own makeup for all my concerts. Once in a while we’d bring in… Dolly’s little sister came in and did ‘Feel the Fire,’ I think it was that album cover. But I did my own makeup. Not my hair. Sandi Spika did my hair. But for all the tours, I did my makeup. And for the awards shows, mostly. Now, once in a while I’d ask somebody to come in and do it, but I usually did my own.
Hunter Kelly: You should do a tutorial.
Reba McEntire: No, they need to do a tutorial. They do a great job.
