Reba McEntire is known for many things — her talent perhaps being No. 1 among them.
But even though the country legend and fan favorite coach on “The Voice” has been in the public eye for more than 50 years, we bet there are a few things about the “Fancy” singer that you didn’t know.
In an new interview with Esquire magazine entitled “What I’ve Learned,” a newly engaged Reba reveals some surprising facts about herself. Read on for five fast facts you need to know:
1. Reba Is Competitive
Often called “The Queen of Country,” Reba McEntire admits she likes to win.
And the season 28 coach of “The Voice” doesn’t just want to reign victorious on the singing competition.
Reba revealed that her friend and fellow singer Miranda Lambert. shocked her once with an easy going attitude about winning an award.
Reba told Esquire, “I get a number-one record, I want another number-one record. I won an award, I want another one. I’ll never forget Miranda Lambert coming up to me when she was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year after she’d already won it, and I said, ‘Good luck, Miranda.’ She said, ‘Oh, I already won, it’s time for somebody else.’ What person lets that come out of their mouth? I was shocked. I thought everybody was just like me.”
Though the women are different in that regard, they share a lot in common, including a hit song. Reba recently released the live performance of her hit “Trailblazer” alongside Miranda and ACM Entertainer of the Year Lainey Wilson.
2. Reba & Fiancé Rex Linn Are Birders
Reba McEntire and her new fiancé Rex Linn, who co-stars in Reba’s NBC show “Happy’s Place,” are birders.
Reba told Esquire, “We can pretty much tell you what bird is what by sound or look. When you’re looking at these birds, so colorful and beautiful, that, to me, is the face of God.”
The bird-loving couple first met in 1991 while shooting the Kenny Rogers movie “The Gambler.”
But it took nearly 30 years for romance to blossom. Reba McEntire reconnected with Rex Linn in 2020 while both guest starring on an episode of “Young Sheldon.” The pair fell in love long distance during the pandemic and have been together ever since.
3. She Knows How to Work Cattle
Reba McEntire grew up on an eight-thousand acre cattle ranch, working alongside her family every single day.
Reba explained, “Alice, Susie, and I were expected to do the work Pake, our brother, did. The only difference was when we got through with our chores, we had to go and do the women’s chores, help Mama cook and clean up, while Pake got to watch TV.”
Her childhood on the ranch led to a love of rodeos. Reba has performed a countless rodeos in the past and was instrumental at bringing the Music City Rodeo to Nashville.
In fact, she is a cofounder of the event alongside Tim McGraw and Jelly Roll, and all three performed at the three-day rodeo.
Reba’s rodeo roots run deep. Her late father, Clark McEntire, was a steer roper inducted into both the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and the Texas Rodeo Hall of Fame.
4. Reba McEntire Is Funny
Reba McEntire says she’s always been funny, and not just on her sitcom “Happy’s Place.”
The “Does He Love You” singer says she found out she could make people laugh when she was a child.
“I knew I was funny when I told Mama a joke one time and she laughed. And I went, ‘I want to do that again!’ But I had to wait, because I didn’t want to push my luck. I mean, you work on a cattle ranch, it’s not fun—if you’re over here laughing and hee-hawing and then the cattle take off, you’ve lost half a day of work. It’s not a good idea to be, as Daddy would call it, mess-[expletive] around.”
5. Reba Knows a Good Song When She See It, but She Can’t Write One
Reba McEntire knows a good song when she hears one.
But she’s not going to write one.
The singer explained to Esquire, “Finding the right songs will always be the most important thing for my career, because I’m not a songwriter. If it’s not on the page, it’s not on the stage, and if it’s not in the song, keep looking.”
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Getting to Know Reba McEntire On & Off-Screen