Reba McEntire gave fans attending the opening night of Nashville’s first-ever Music City Rodeo a huge surprise May 29.
The legendary singer shocked fans by bringing out Lainey Wilson and Miranda Lambert for a repeat performance of the trio’s new song “Trailblazer,” which they debuted at the Academy of Country Music Awards May 8.
The unexpected star power was, of course, a welcome surprise for fans, many of whom were quick to capture the moment on their phones. Reba started out the song, which has become a country radio hit, by teasing the audience, “Wouldn’t it be great if they were here tonight?.” As the crowd applauded that idea, Lainey Wilson and Miranda Lambert walked out on stage and the crowd went wild.
Reba McEntire Has a Long History with Rodeos
Reba McEntire 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, who also performed at the 3-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.
Before her concert, rodeo president Patrick Humes presented Reba with a horse belt buckle and the rodeo back number of her father. McEntire told the crowd, “My whole life has been music and rodeo.” Reba laughingly added, “Thank God I got into the music business.”
Despite that comment, Reba told the crowd she wished she was part of the rodeo itself.
The legendary singer kicked off her performance saying, “Helloooooo Nashville! Thank y’all so much for coming out to the rodeo tonight to see our performance. We appreciate that more than you know. Now, before we go any further, let’s give one more round of applause for all the cowgirls and cowboys competing tonight. I gotta tell I wanted to be in the mutton busting competition so bad! Can we please give those young men and women a big round of applause? That was probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Can y’all believe this is the first PRCA Rodeo in Nashville, Tennessee? We’re going to do this next song for all the cowgirls tonight,” McEntire told the crowd before performing “I Want A Cowboy,” where she paid tribute to cowboys such as Cody Johnson, Kevin Costner, John Wayne, and even her boyfriend Rex Linn.
Reba McEntire’s Rodeo Set List Included Other Surprises
In addition to “Trailblazer” and “I Want a Cowboy,” Reba McEntire’s 90-minute set list included some other surprises.
The 18-song performance included her hits over the years, like “The Fear of Being Alone,” “Can’t Even Get The Blues,” “One Promise Too Late,” “I’m Gonna Take That Mountain,” “You Lie,” “Consider Me Gone,” “Back To God,” “I Can’t,” “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia,” as well as the theme songs of “Happy’s Place” and the “Reba” tv show, and “I’m A Survivor.” .
But she also threw in three unexpected covers: Aretha Franklin’s “R-E-S-P-E-C-T,” Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” and the Diana Ross hit “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”
‘Trailblazer’ Is More Than a Song to Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire has often made it clear how strongly she believes in the message of her song, “Trailblazer” with Miranda Lambert and Lainey Wilson.
A recent post on Reba’s Instagram account shows a series of clips over the years of Reba talking about the importance of the women who blazed a trail for her, making her career possible.
According to Billboard, Wilson and Lambert wrote “Trailblazers” with Reba McEntire and their ACMs performance in mind.
“We were like, ‘OK, we’re going to do a song with Reba — what kind of song do we write?” recalled “We were calling her on the set [of sitcom “Happy’s Place”] and trying to figure out, ‘What’s the right message for this trio? What do we really want to say in three minutes?’” The three decided they wanted a song about musical influences.
The song namechecks some of country’s biggest female artists of all time, with the lyric “Dolly and Loretta, Patsy and Tammy too / They gave me a seat at the table and I’m saving one for you.”
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Reba McEntire Surprises Fans with Special Guests