By Michaela Gordoni
At 70, Reba McEntire’s career is thriving as a judge on THE VOICE, a lead actress in HAPPY’S PLACE and an all-around legendary singer, but she couldn’t do it without her fans.
“I thank God for the fans,” she told Variety in April, “because they are people who travel, spend their hard-earned money to buy tickets, to buy albums. They’re faithful.”
“And I don’t care what kind of entertainment business you’re in, whether it’s race cars or movies, singing or writing books,” she explained. “If you don’t have the fans, you might as well be singing in the shower, because they’re the ones that put food on our tables.”
In the last three years, not only has she debuted on THE VOICE, launched HAPPY’S PLACE, hosted a podcast and performed in Lifetime movie THE HAMMER, but she’s also released two albums and written a memoir. This month, she will host the Academy of Country Music Awards for the 18th time.
McEntire said working in Hollywood has made her a better entertainer.
“The more experience and the different things you get to be involved in, you learn. You learn from other people you’re working with, whether it’s directors or producers. I’m very observant of how they do things. I want to improve every time I take on a new project.”
She loves the experiences that come with being a singer and actress.
“I always said I wanted to act because I want to be somebody else, not Reba McEntire,” she told First for Women. “And when I’m Reba McEntire on stage, I am acting like the person that’s in the song I’m singing…When I’m doing ‘Fancy,’ I can see the whole story in my mind.”
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When McEntire got into the music business as a teen, she brought her ranching work ethic with her — and she’s never lost it.
She is very emotionally invested as a VOICE judge. The job is harder than she’d thought it be.
“The thing I worry about is for the people that make it to the finals or win, how do they continue on after that?” she said. “I hope that they grab this as a learning experience, like a course they took in a college, instead of expecting the doors to open up and now here they go, they’re a superstar. It takes so much work.”
McEntire previously admitted she was hesitant about being a judge because she can’t be “mean.”
“I mean, when I turned it down 15 years ago, when they wanted me to do THE VOICE, I said, ‘I can’t tell anybody that they’re horrible,” she said. “I can’t say to somebody, ‘Well, is your mama gonna meet you at the bus station? Because you’re going home.’ I can’t do that.”
Now in Season 27’s playoffs, McEntire has learned how to give tough love and enjoys the challenges of being a judge.
McEntire is a great example of resilience in the changing entertainment industry. With a career spanning more than five decades, she’s just as active as ever, fueled by gratitude and hard work.
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