Musician Reba McEntire’s lengthy career will come full circle this Sunday at Super Bowl 58. The 68-year-old country singer will check the final box before kickoff when she performs the singing of the national anthem. It’s a tremendous honor, a timeless tradition, and also a nerve-wracking undertaking.
Fortunately, she has half a century of stage experience to fall back on. Not to mention prior experience performing America’s flagship ballad.
Looking Back on Reba McEntire’s Hall of Fame Career
McEntire’s breakthrough came some 50 years ago when she was discovered while performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 1974 National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City, as per ABC News.
The 68-year-old Country Music Hall of Famer has been active in her industry since 1975, when Gerald Ford was in office.
The Super Bowl that year was the ninth iteration of the big game and pitted Terry Bradshaw and the Pittsburgh Steelers against Fran Tarkenton and the Minnesota Vikings. It marked the first championship victory in Pittsburgh franchise history.
Yes, McEntire’s been honing her craft for some time. She’s become synonymous with her industry, so much so that she’s recognizable by her first name alone — Reba — much like other famed musicians such as Elvis, Prince, and Madonna.
That’s part of what a career spanning half a century and featuring a staggering 33 albums has earned her.
According to Business Insider, Reba is the 37th best-selling artist of all time, smack dab between titans like Queen and Eric Clapton. She’s the eighth best-selling country artist ever, with a baffling nine albums that have achieved multi-platinum status.
Her mantle is overflowing with accolades, so much so that her musical career helped propel her to a successful crossover career as an actress.
Reba, in her silver screen career at least, is probably best known for the six-season stint she spent as the title character on The WB sitcom, “Reba,” in the early 2000s. She also has appearances in memorable movies like “Tremors,” “Little Rascals,” and, more recently, television’s “Young Sheldon.”
One interesting credit on her résumé, especially as it relates to her obligations in Las Vegas on Sunday, is that she welcomed wrestling fans to WrestleMania VIII back in 1992 with the singing of the national anthem. Is that a Super Bowl stage? Not necessarily. But that event took place in front of a crowd of over 62,000. Not exactly small potatoes.
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Reba spoke about her preparation at the Apple Music Super Bowl halftime show press conference on Thursday. She said she’d been prepping for the moment by singing the anthem in the car and shower. She also spoke about what the opportunity to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl meant to her.
“I am honored beyond words to be chosen to get to sing it,” McEntire said. “It means that I get to sing a very special song for all Americans, people all around the world who have really worked so hard for our freedom and to give us peace.”
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