Reba McEntire
Country Music's reigning queen for the better part of two decades, Oklahoman Reba McEntire has done it all. In her career, she has racked up more than thirty #1 hits (out of more than 80 singles overall) - more than any other female country music artist - and had the first multi-platinum album by a female country act. She is known for her twangy voice, bright red hair and strong, no-nonsense material. Her accolades include two Grammys (for "Whoever's in New England" and "Does He Love You"), as well as several trophies from the two major country music award associations, the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association. Although her radio hits were fewer and further between in the 2000s, she came back in full force in late 2009-early 2010 with "Consider Me Gone," the biggest hit of her career.
Reba has also dabbled in acting a few times, including a six-season run in the Sitcom Reba and the role of Annie Oakley in the 2001 musical Annie Get Your Gun. She also played Heather Gummer, Burt's wife in the first Tremors.
To cap it all off, Reba was named a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee in 2011.
- American Accents: Her signature Oklahoma twang is one of the most recognizable speaking (and singing) voices in the music industry.
- Charity Motivation Song: "What If?", a charity single for the Salvation Army released in late 1997.
- Concept Video: She's famous for these, going all the way back to "Whoever's in New England". The video for "Is There Life Out There" took this to such an extent that CMT almost banned the video because of its length.
- The Cover Changes the Gender: Twice. She changed The Everly Brothers' "Cathy's Clown" from first to third person (resulting in the story changing to a third party observing the storyline), and Lee Greenwood's "Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands" from third to first. Oddly, even though she was singing "Ring on my finger, time on my hands", she kept the original title on the CD listing and on the charts.
- Eighties Hair: In, well, the eighties, her hair was frequently bigger than she was.
- Fiery Redhead: A lot of her songs are rather empowering. "Take It Back" is one example.
- Good-Looking Privates: Reba looks very nice in dress whites in the video for "The Heart Won't Lie."
- Greatest Hits Album: Several of them, as befits her long and impressive career.
- Heavy Meta: "Turn On the Radio".
- Heterosexual Life Partners: She and Kelly Clarkson have become very close since they sang a duet of "Because of You."
- Melismatic Vocals: A trademark of her delivery until the mid-1990s; see Vocal Evolution below.
- Older Than They Look: Well, does she look 55 to you.
- One Mario Limit: To the point that she's listed as just "Reba" on the singles charts and on all of her albums since 1987's Reba.
- Signature Song: The aforementioned "Fancy" and "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," as well as "Whoever's in New England," "Does He Love You" (a duet with Linda Davis), and arguably "Consider Me Gone," "The Greatest Man I Never Knew," "I'm a Survivor" (which was also the theme to her sitcom) and "She Thinks His Name Was John."
- Spit Take: Done here in the video for Aaron Tippin's "Honky Tonk Superman" (at 3:45).
- The Fundamentalist: Sharply averted. Oh, she's a Bible-belt conservative and she's not shy about it, but her motto in life appears to be "I don't judge. God loves everyone, and I do too." Which is pretty damn awesome.
- The Oldest Profession: She is not an example, but the protagonist of "Fancy"...
- Vocal Evolution: One of her trademarks was her melismatic, vowel-bending and theatrical singing voice. Over time, she's ditched most of the theatrics and now sings in a more straightforward voice (partially because her older style was giving her vocal polyps).
- What Beautiful Eyes!: She's got an absolutely stunning pair of wickedly vibrant blue eyes and wields them to often devastating effect.