Reba trades her big hair for blue jeans

I love Reba....Cuz she is just the best. God bless ya Reba and keep up the good work and thanks for mentoring the future talent, like Kelly Clarkson.

~C.S. Webbspun

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At 52, country superstar says she's finally happy to just be herself

By
BEVERLY KEEL
Staff Writer

Reba McEntire is conducting business today at her impressive Starstruck Entertainment building on Music Row, but she is dressed in her stage wear.

But instead of a sparkly gown, she wears a pair of jeans and a trendy blue V-neck. This is Reba McEntire 2007.

After living largely in Los Angeles for the past six years to shoot the WB/CW sitcom Reba, McEntire returned to her home in Sumner County after the show was cancelled late last year.

Instead of going Hollywood, McEntire returned to her roots. Gone is the over-the-top image created by her big hair and big production shows featuring numerous costume changes.

It was obviously an image that worked. McEntire has sold 38 million albums, recorded 33 No. 1 hits and collected two Grammys. She's won seven Country Music Association awards, including a record-tying (with Martina McBride) four trophies in the female vocalist category.

"I used to sit in the audience of the CMAs and just wait for the moment when she would walk out onstage in her big gown and big hair, and you knew you were watching a superstar," McBride says. "Her command of the stage is something I strive to have."

But about five years ago, McEntire ditched the cumbersome outfits and costume changes to be more comfortable onstage. More important, she wanted to have more time to talk to her audience. "Because of the Reba TV show, I was a character that people fell in love with because she was a normal person," she says.

In the past, onstage she played the characters in the songs — "I was never Reba until I talked." But now, she says, "I can play Reba and sing the song with my heart."

"I love being 52. I get to be me now, and I don't have to please anybody. I please myself first, and I love myself first. Because if I can love me, I am more open to everybody accepting me the way I am, and I don't have to pretend."

The flashy big-haired image wasn't really who she was, she says, but a stylist's idea of what she should look like.

"I went for it because I had no taste. I grew up with hand-me-downs all my life. I had no idea what I was wanting to wear."


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