In her 20-year career in country music, Reba McEntire has continued to push the boundaries of the genre. A strong, outspoken woman who first entered the charts at a time when strong, outspoken women weren’t necessarily appreciated by the powers that be on Nashville’s Music Row, McEntire built a business empire that includes her own management, booking, music publishing and film production companies in order to take control of her own career.
A four-time Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year and one of only five women to win the CMA’s coveted Entertainer of the Year honors, McEntire has a sophisticated image and slick stage sense, which have given her an appeal far beyond her country fan base.
In fact, some of her hits have been anything but typical Nashville fare. The yearning “Is There Life Out There” has become an anthem for female fans, while the controversial “She Thinks His Name Is John” is about a woman who learns she has contracted HIV after a one-night stand.
McEntire has found success as an actress as well. She made a memorable feature debut in the 1989 film “Tremors,” and was also featured in “North” and “Little Rascals.” Her TV films include “The Gambler” series with Kenny Rogers as well as “Is There Life Out There” and “Buffalo Girls.”
She’s also a successful author. Following her 1995 autobiography, “Reba: My Story,” this year the Oklahoma native (and daughter of a teacher and a rancher) published the homespun “Comfort From a Country Quilt: Finding New Inspiration and Strength from Old-Fashioned Values.” A good portion of the latter book is based on her experiences as the mother of son Shelby, now 9, a hockey-loving kid she describes as “all boy.”
Her latest project is the touring production “The Singer’s Diary,” a musical play tracing her life and career from 1974 to the present. It stops at the Rosemont Theatre this Friday night and Saturday nights with a road company of actors and dancers in addition to Reba’s band.
We talked with McEntire by telephone from her Nashville office.
Q: Your friend and fellow Oklahoman Garth Brooks is currently getting a lot of flak for his “Chris Gaines” project. (On Garth’s new, non-country album, “In the Life of Chris Gaines,” he takes on the persona of a pop-rock star–wig, goatee, air-brushed cheeks and all.) Is it difficult to come up with new ways to keep both you and your audience interested after all this time?
A: You can’t imagine how hard it is. You’ve got your songs, which are your basic outline. But how can you present them differently year after year after year? It’s very, very hard.
We’ve done everything that every rock group has done on stage–other than biting the heads off chickens. So we wanted to do something that would allow us to get more intimate with our audience instead of adding more razzle-dazzle.”
Luckily, my fans roll with me on things, and they always have. They say, “We can’t wait to see what you’re going to do next.” And whether it’s good or bad, they’ll tell me. But usually they go with it–whether it’s the outlandish clothes changes I’ve done in the past or whatever.
Q: Is it true that you divorced your first husband after you won the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award and he expected you to retire from the business?
A: He had reached the top of his field–he was a three-time world champion rodeo steer wrestler–and after I won Entertainer of the Year he said, “Well, you’ve done it. Now let’s slow down and retire here to the house.” I thought, “Oh my gosh, I’m just getting my foot in the door and this is where I want to be.” I had to make a choice, and that’s when I decided to divorce him. We had been married for 11 years and he was 10 years older than me. I changed during the period of time we were together and he didn’t. I think he expected me to stay the same little girl that he married, and that didn’t happen.
Q: You’re now married to Narvel Blackstock, who was originally the steel guitarist in your band and is now your manager. How are things different the second time around?
A: Narvel’s ideas and mine are essentially the same. He was always right there for me, encouraging me and thinking up great ideas. Instead of saying, “No you can’t do that,” or “A woman can’t do that,” he’d say, “Why not? Let’s go for it.” And that’s what I was looking for. And since he stepped in as my manager, I haven’t been happier.
Q: Does being married to the man who also manages you make it difficult to separate personal time from business?
A: We don’t ever separate business from family. It might not work for everybody, but it works out fine for us. We might be at a family dinner and Narvel will tell me that my song went to number such-and-such on the charts and we’ll all toast that. That way it involves the whole family and not just me and Narvel being in the business.
Q: Why are you doing a show that’s not just a traditional concert?
A: Narvel and I have wanted to do a show like this for a long time because we’re huge fans of plays. When we found Jeffrey Hornaday (who directed two of Madonna’s tours) to write the script for us it all fell in place. It begins with me in 1974, when I first started singing the national anthem at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City, and it goes up to the present time. We have loved putting the show together, and the response so far has been astronomical.
Q: Newer country stars like Trisha Yearwood and Martina McBride have cited you as an inspiration for the way you’ve handled your career. With artists like Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks topping the charts, it also seems like women are getting a bigger slice of the pie in country music today. Do you agree?
A: Women have taken a bigger voice in things. They’re producing themselves in the studio and handling their careers a lot better. They’re more educated in the business than I was when I got started by far. So it’s a huge difference.
Q: Was there a turning point for you in deciding to take more control over your career?
A: I remember being in a meeting with my former manager and booking agent. I was mad that they were booking my shows 700 miles apart, and I said I wanted to have an agent assigned to go on the road with me to see what was going on. And they just threw back their heads and laughed and said, “That’ll never happen.” It was like they were patting me on the head and telling me to go sit in the corner. So I fired them and hired a new promoter and booking agent, who have been with me since 1988. That’s exactly what I wanted and exactly what I got. It really ticked me off for people to tell me “That’s impossible–it can’t happen.” Well, why not?
Q: Your son, Shelby, is now 9. Did motherhood change you?
A: Lord, yes! Every way in the world for the better. I just think it’s the greatest thing in the world to find that you can love a child that much. It’s total unconditional love, too. I love going to his hockey games.
He’s the sunshine of my life, and I just have the greatest time with him.
— An edited transcript
REBA IN CHICAGO
Reba McEntire’s “The Singer’s Diary” will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Rd., Rosemont. Tickets are $35, $50 and $75, available from the box office (847-671-5100) or Ticketmaster (312-559-1212).
McEntire also is national spokeswoman for the First Book Club, which donates millions of new books to disadvantaged children. As part of “Make a Difference Day” on Saturday, McEntire will join U.S. Congressmen Rod Blagojevich and Danny Davis for an 11 a.m. press conference at A. Finkl & Sons, 2011 N. Southport Ave., Chicago.
Volunteers will be packing and loading books for distribution. To volunteer, call 202-393-1222 or visit www.rebasfirstbook.com.
