Country music legend Reba McEntire has never shied away from expressing herdeep-rooted values, and her recent statement is no exception: “Drag queens don’tbelong in the presence of our kids.”
As a strong advocate for family and traditional values, Reba believes in protectingthe innocence of children and ensuring that they grow up in environments thatreflect those values.Reba’s message resonates with many parents who share her concern about what isappropriate for young minds.
Her stance is not just about keeping certain performances away from children, butabout preserving the family values that have been a cornerstone of her life andcareer.
By speaking out, Reba is standing up for what she believes is best for the nextgeneration, and her fans are applauding her for itReba McEntire has scored dozens of Top 10 country hits, starred in a much-watchedTV sitcom, opened a restaurant in her native Oklahoma and taken home six CountryMusic Assn. Awards (including four consecutive wins for female vocalist of the year).What the 68-year-old singer and actor hasn’t done is headline the Hollywood Bowl- an achievement she’ll finally nab Saturday when her latest concert tour touchesdown in Los Angeles.A crucial bridge figure between the pioneering country singers of the 1960s and’70s (Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton) and the stars of today’s scene (CarrieUnderwood and Miranda Lambert), McEntire made her name singing emotionallydetailed songs about women’s lives. Yet her open mind and her sense of humorhave also given her one-name-icon status far beyond the limits of country music.Ahead of the BowI show – as well as a gig mentoring contestants on “The Voice”that’s brought her together with her former daughter-in-law, Kelly Clarkson -McEntire sat down for a chat at the Sunset Marquis
Carrie Underwood, left, Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert at the 2022 CMA Awards inNashville.You have a lot going on. Why continue to tour?The reaction from the crowd. When you’re up there and you get that adoration coming at you soloud – it’s a drug.You haven’t gotten your fill?Well, that’s why it’s like a drug. You want another fix, then you want it again.What’s the best live act you’ve ever seen?The Eagles. Cher. Taylor Swift puts on a fantastic show.What do you try to teach the young performers on “The Voice”?Eye contact. Emotion. I don’t get into technique. Kelly does the trills and the runs and all this kindof stuff. I say, “I just want you to look at me when you’re singing.”I wonder if fans ever find it overwhelming when you do that at your shows.I hope so.Last year, Lambert and Elle King had the first female duet to top Billboard’s CountryAirplay chart since you and Linda Davis in 1993 with “Does He Love You.” How should wethink about the climate for women at country radio?It’s definitely not as hard as when Tammy [Wynette] and Loretta and Dolly were getting started.And it’s not as hard for the girls now as it was for me when I got started, which was almost 50years ago. We just wanted to be heard, and now the girls walk in and say, “I want it this way,” andit’s a given.Any younger artist you see a bit of yourself in?I love Ashley McBryde’s emotion, her heart. She’s a great storyteller, and she really commits to asong.
to keep busy. I also love to stay at home. But I got a lot of that during COVID.You spent some time early in the pandemic in Oklahoma, where you grew up. Your motherwas dying of cancer.My siblings and I, we were taking turns helping Mama. I was putting a tour together, and so I hadto go back [to Nashville] at one point for rehearsals. They called and said she was getting reallybad, and I said I didn’t want to be there when she passes. So Susie, my little sister, she called andsaid, “OK, she’s gone.”We flew back on the 15th of March [2020] to pick out the casket. That wasa Monday, and we were gonna have the funeral on Thursday. The funeral home man, he said, “Idon’t think you’re gonna be able to have this funeral.” We asked why, and he said because ofCOVID. I said, “What’s COVID?”Why didn’t you want to be there when your mom passed?I didn’t want to see her like that. Right before I left to come back to Nashville, I was sitting therebeside her bed and she was asleep. I was singing to her, and she woke up and said, “Did you saysomething?” I said, “Mama, I was just singing my butt off to you.” She said, “Do it again,” and shewent back to sleep.What’s the best album you ever made?One of my favorites is the [1995] “Starting Over” album, with the songs I wished l’d recorded first,like “Starting Over Again,” which was Dolly Parton’s.You’ve recorded so many songs that you must have forgotten some of them.Probably about four on every album. People come up to me before a concert and say, “Are yousinging ‘Gonna Love Ya (Till the Cows Come Home)’?” I say,”Who recorded that?” “You did.”Isay,”I guess not.”
Reba McEntire performing in 1995.What’s it like to experience something in real life – divorce, for instance – after you’vesung about it?It’s like the knife’s in and somebody twists it a little bit. There’s a segment in my show that’s all theheartbreak songs: “You Lie,” “The Last One to Know,” “Somebody Should Leave,” “What Am IGonna Do About You.” I’ll remember where I was when I recorded the song, what stage of my lifeI was in. And l’ll get choked up. I never have broken down to cry, but a part of that scar tissuebreaks loose. It hurts.Can you imagine breaking down some night?I wouldn’t go that far. I can look at an exit sign and think about how you spell that backwards andget out of it.Where’d you learn that trick?Mama told me one time – she said, “Are you nervous?”I said, “A little bit nervous.” She said,”Look at the exit signs.” Takes you out of it for a little bit where you can take a breath, go rightback into it. If you watch an actor, it’s always real good until they start bawling. One tear is somuch more powerful than the ugly face.What do you think about the bill that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee recently signed into lawrestricting drag performances in certain parts of the state?I wish they would spend that much time and energy and money on feeding the homeless childrenin those two counties.Were you surprised the bill passed?Disappointed.
You’ve been around long enough that I have to assume you’ve known plenty of politiciansin Nashville and in Tennessee. Ever get involved in a race or a campaign?I don’t do politics. Never have. My job is to entertain. I’m not there to influence people one way oranother how to vote.And yet you know your take on the drag bill is potentially alienating to some in youraudienceBoy, why? I mean, we’ve got a real problem in this country, and to be worrying about men wantingto dress up as women? God bless ’em to wear those high heels – I feel for ’em. But let’s centerour attention on something that really needs attentionMaren Morris has spoken about country music splitting into halves along certain culturaland political lines. Can you identify with that view?That does not apply to me.I try to stay away from disagreements and confrontations.
Are you proud of having cut songs like “Fancy,” about a prostitute, and “She Thinks HisName Was John,” about a woman with AIDS?I’m very proud of the fact that I listened to my gut and said, “This is a good idea.” No. 1, they’regreat songs. I went in to Bluewater Music [publishing company] to listen to songs like I did beforean album project, and as I was walking out a guy comes in the lobby and says, “Did you play her.. ?” They whispered no. I said, “Play me what?” The guy goes, “Well, nobody else is gonnarecord it.” And I said, “OK, play it for me,” and they played “She Thinks His Name Was John.” Isaid,”I’ll take it.”You liked the idea that it was kind of risky.I didn’t think about risky. I thought, “This is a song about AIDS. I know nothing about AIDS, but Ido know that it’s taboo.” You know when the booger bear’s in the dark, then you turn the light onand he’s not there anymore? I thought maybe that by singing about AlDS, I could shed some lighton it and people would start talking about it and it would get it out of that scary place. It’s scaryenough by itself without people having to think it’s scarier than it is.
