Where Is The Voice Coach Reba McEntire From?
The Queen of Country is joining the red-chaired panel of coaches for Season 24 of NBC's hit competition series!
When The Voice returns to NBC late next month for its 24th season, it will do so with the participation of a brand-new superstar coach: Reba McEntire!
The Queen of Country is, of course, no stranger to NBC's hit competition series, having served as a "Mega Mentor" in Season 23 (now streaming on Peacock). But now, she's getting a permanent seat on the red-chaired panel that will also include the likes of Gwen Stefani, Niall Horan, and John Legend.
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You may know McEntire as a Grammy-winning artist, an inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame, or Heather Gummer from the 1990 creature feature Tremors. And there's also the self-titled Reba sitcom that ran for over 120 episodes between 2001 and 2007, which cemented her multi-camera reputation as "a single mom who works too hard; who loves her kids and never stops," as noted in the show's theme song, "I'm a Survivor."
To say she's a prolific performer would be an understatement. As PBS writes, Reba McEntire is "the most successful female country artist in the 1980s and ‘90s" as well as "the only female country artist to achieve solo No. 1s in four straight decades."
Where is Reba McEntire from?
Born in the town of McAlester, Oklahoma in late March of 1955. McEntire was raised on her family's Chockie-based cattle ranch. Her father, Clark McEntire, was a steer-roping champion who would often take his daughter to rodeo competitions. Her mother, Jackie, was "a powerful singer and a strong influence," states the Country Music Hall of Fame website.
Along with her two siblings, Pake and Susie, she formed a musical trio known as "The Singing McEntires." Her big break came in 1974 when country singer Red Steagall heard her sing the national anthem at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City, and then financed the young woman's first recording session, which led to an official contract with Mercury Records the following year.
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A brief history of Reba's career and relationships
McEntire signed with MCA in 1983, owing to the fact that she was "unhappy with Mercury and feeling pushed in a country-pop direction," PBS explains. Her eighth studio album, My Kind of Country, debuted the following year, prompting the Country Music Awards to name McEntire its Female Vocalist of the Year.
She moved to Nashville four years later after divorcing her first husband, rodeo champion Charlie Battles. While there, she married her second husband, former guitarist Narvel Blackstock, who managed her professional career until their split in 2015. The pair had a son together, professional race car driver Shelby Blackstock.
Since 2020, McEntire has been in a partnership with actor Rex Linn (perhaps best-known for his role as Mesa Verde head honcho Kevin Wachtell in AMC's Better Call Saul). They originally met on the set of the 1991 TV movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw.
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Where does Reba McEntire live now?
As of January 2022, McEntire has resided at a mansion in Nashville, Tennessee.
"I love a home that is warm, inviting, and friendly," she told Newsner at the time. "You never have to ask to take your shoes off at the door here. I wanted a space that is 100% authentically me."
Season 24 of The Voice premieres on NBC Monday, September 25 at 8/7c on NBC.
Catch up on The Voice's most recent season — now streaming on Peacock!
