What I've Learned

Entertainer, 70, Nashville Interview by Alan Light

- Reba McEntire

SINGING WAS THE ONLY THING that got me good attention. Anything else might be bad attention or no attention at all—which is horrible, because I’m a show dog.

MAMA TAUGHT ALL OF US KIDS how to sing. We didn’t have a radio in the car, so that’s the way we passed the time, learning to sing three-part harmony on the road to the rodeo.

I WAS ALWAYS AFRAID if I didn’t use my gift, God would take it away from me and give it to somebody else.

I GREW UP ON A WORKING CATTLE RANCH, eight thousand acres. Alice, Susie, and I were expected to do the work Pake, our brother, did. The only difference was when we got through with our chores, we had to go and do the women’s chores, help Mama cook and clean up, while Pake got to watch TV.

I'M A FEMALE; I know you gotta work harder. There’s no need to bitch and gripe about it.

I LIKE TO BE APPROACHABLE, and I like to be not scary. I don’t want to be up on a pedestal and idolized and revered. I want to be a buddy, a friend.