Although she’s known as a country music icon, Reba McEntire isn’t forgetting where her singing career started.
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During her appearance on TalkShopLive with fellow country star and close friend Garth Brooks, McEntire opens up about how her mother helped her get her start in the music industry. She did this by performing at “beer joints and honky tonks.”
“It was mama who encouraged us kids to sing, taught us how to sing, took us to our singing jobs,” Reba McEntire stated. “Thirteen years old playing beer joints and honky tonks, Peg, Susie and I getting up there and singing.”
McEntire also spoke about how others reacted to her early career performances. “And people would say, ‘You’re playing clubs at 13?’ I’d say, ‘Yeah, mama and daddy are sitting right there.’ Took us. Took us home, encouraged us, and kept us out of trouble. We were [doing] rodeo, and playing basketball and singing. So mama was there for all three events.”
Reba McEntire Opens Up About Paying Tribute to Her Mother With New Single ‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’
Along with discussing her early career, Reba McEntire reflected on the loss of her mother and how the new single Seven Minutes in Heaven is a special tribute to her. “Mama had passed in 2020 and so we’re hearing that song and I said I definitely want it but I couldn’t record it, I mean I couldn’t sing it in the studio probably the first two or three times through.”
However, McEntire admitted recording the single wasn’t without emotional moments. “I got so choked up because if I had seven minutes in heaven, I know exactly what I’d do. I would pass by all of the formal introductions,” she continued. McEntire noted that she would go find her mom and ask her if she gets to go fishing in heaven. “And then I’d say I’ll come back and see you soon.”
Brooks, who was interviewing her on the show for her upcoming book, Not That Fancy, then spoke about how he would approach seven minutes in heaven as well. “Yeah, you have dreams of your family back together. We had eight of us total. Six, then mom and dad. And all my dreams, we’ve lost four of the eight. It’s just tough.”
Brooks also said if he could see all eight of his family members back together, it would be emotional for him, no matter the circumstance. He went on to add, “And I don’t care if we’re back together fighting again like we used to at Thanksgiving, that would be fine with me! Whatever just to be together again. You know Okies.”
