Reba: ‘I Love This Chapter in My Life’

WITH TWO TV SHOWS, A MAJOR MUSIC MILESTONE AND A DOTING FIANCÉ BY HER SIDE, THE COUNTRY ICON HAS FOUND HER HAPPY PLACE

- DANIELA AVILA,JOHN RUSSO

The world knows Reba McEntire as the charismatic country icon and sitcom queen—but to her family, she’s still just the redheaded rodeo cowgirl from McAlester, Okla. “My sister Alice, for Christmas one year, gave me a toilet-seat cover.

OKLAHOMA ROOTS McEntire (performing as a child, left, and a teenager, center, and with her late mom, Jacqueline, in the 1970s) says she "didn't know anything" about the music business when she left home to pursue her dreams.

On the top of the toilet seat it said, ‘The Twinkle,’ to let me know I’m not a star—I’m a twinkle. Keeps me grounded,” McEntire, 70, quips, cracking up the video crew at her People cover shoot in the Hollywood Hills.

That modest mindset—and sense of humor—has served McEntire well for her five decades in showbiz. But contrary to her lavatory decor’s message, she’s had a stellar career.

Since signing her first record deal in 1975, McEntire has sold more than 75 million albums, scored 24 No. 1 country hits and earned three Grammys. She made a successful transition to acting with her early-aughts comedy Reba. Now she’s starring on two NBC shows this fall—season 28 of The Voice and season 2 of her feel-good sitcom Happy’s Place (returning Friday, Nov. 7, at 8 p.m. ET). Says McEntire: “I think I’m happier now than I’ve ever been in my life.” Melissa Peterman, McEntire’s longtime friend and costar, can vouch for that: “She’s at peace with who she is. That kind of inner happiness just exudes on the outside.”