There’s no one out there, especially in country music, quite like Reba. Throughout her career from the mid-1970s to today, Reba McEntire has sold over 75 million records across the globe. She has produced over 100 songs that made it to the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. A whopping 25 of those songs reached No. 1. She’s a legend, one that couldn’t be contained in music. Reba famously branched out into film and television series like Reba and The Voice in the 2000s. And our favorite red-headed country icon was born on this day, March 28, 1955.
Let’s celebrate Reba’s birthday by looking back at her storied career, shall we?
The Legacy of Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire was born on March 28, 1955, in McAlester, Oklahoma. She started her music career young as part of The Singing McEntires with her siblings. While attending college to become a school teacher, Reba continued to perform on occasion. On one such occasion in the mid-1970s, Reba performed at a rodeo, where she was discovered by fellow country singer Red Steagall. Convinced that she had star potential, Steagall helped Reba sign her first recording contract in 1975 with PolyGram/Mercury.
From there, Reba launched a powerhouse musical career that is still going strong today. But those very early years were marked by little success. It wasn’t until the 1980s that Reba began to pick up speed with her songs, particularly with her first No. 1 hit, “Can’t Even Get The Blues”.
After moving to MCA Records in the mid-1980s, Reba released her breakthrough album, My Kind Of Country, in 1984. That album produced two chart-topping singles.
Throughout her career, Reba scored numerous No. 1 hits and became known for her music videos, which she usually starred in. “One Promise Too Late” from 1987 and “Cathy’s Clown” from 1989 are just a few of her most well-known songs from that era. In the early 1990s, following the deaths of her band in a tragic plane crash, Reba released the critically acclaimed record For My Broken Heart. It remains her most famous album to date.
When the new millennium kicked off, Reba tried her hand at acting with great success. She made her film debut in Tremors in 1990, but in the 2000s, she reached significant fame for her role as herself in the WB series Reba. Today, she’s known for her work on the reality competition series The Voice and the NBC sitcom Happy’s Place.
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