Country icon Reba McEntire opens up about her humble ranch roots and how her rural upbringing shaped her path to music fame.
Reba McEntire, the beloved country music icon, has always had a deep connection to her rural upbringing.
In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, the 69-year-old singer-songwriter opened up about her childhood on her family’s expansive ranch in Oklahoma.
“I didn’t play cowgirl growing up – I was one,” McEntire recalled. Growing up on her family’s 8,000-acre ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma, Reba and her siblings were immersed in the daily operations of the cattle business from a young age.
“I began working on the ranch at age 5,” McEntire shared. “If my dad needed a driver to move grain, he’d put me on top of a 50-pound feed sack to reach the steering wheel.”
Despite her petite stature, Reba took on responsibilities like gathering horses and helping to herd cattle before heading to school each day.
McEntire’s close-knit family, including her parents Clark and Jackie and siblings Alice, Susie, and Pake, worked together to keep the ranch running smoothly, especially when their father was away competing in rodeos.
“Running that big ranch while he was gone fell to us kids,” she remembered.
While the ranch kept the McEntire family busy, music was always a passion for Reba.
She formed a band called The Singing McEntires with Pake and Susie, performing together from junior high through high school.
“I always wanted to be on stage,” McEntire said. “Singing gained my mom’s adoration, and that’s what I yearned for.”
Reba’s big break came in 1974 when she was hired to sing the national anthem at the National Rodeo in Oklahoma City.
Country star Red Steagall was in the audience and helped Reba launch her career in Nashville the following year.
Despite her meteoric rise to stardom, Reba has never forgotten her roots. She and her longtime boyfriend, actor Rex Linn, own a ranch just outside of Nashville, which Reba calls their “happy place.”
With 24 number-one hits, three Grammy awards, and countless other accolades, Reba McEntire has proven that her cowgirl spirit and passion for music make an unbeatable combination.