Reba McEntire not only hosted the ACM Awards, for the 17th time, but she also closed out the show. The 69-year-old sang her new single, “I Can’t,” which she debuted on The Voice last week.
“I love the lyrics of this song,” McEntire said, explaining why she chose to record it for her next album. “I love the melody. I really am drawn to minor chords in a song, and that’s what this one has. A lot of people tell me they can relate to it.”
The Country Music Hall of Fame member loved returning to the studio to record “I Can’t,” the first of many songs for her next project.
That’s a wrap on the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards. See ya next year for the 60th! #ACMawards pic.twitter.com/SWQIHBOE10
— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) May 17, 2024
“Recording this song was a lot of fun ‘cause I got to work with Dave Cobb and his musicians. We stripped it down, and then we recorded it and then started adding more things to the track,” McEntire recalled. “It was a lot of fun. We had a great time in the studio.”
In addition to working on new music, McEntire is also working on a new TV show, Happy’s Place. which was just picked up as a series by NBC.
“It’s called Happy’s Place, and Melissa Peterman is gonna be with me. Rex Linn, my boyfriend, will be on it,” McEntire told E! News. “It’s about a tavern that me and my father own. His name was Happy. He passes, and so I am going to the lawyer’s office to sign the will and everything, so everything will be finalized, and then there’s a little hiccup there at the lawyer’s office.”
McEntire and Peterman worked together on the sitcom Reba several years ago. Although McEntire had hoped for a Reba reboot, she is still bringing several of her former co-workers to her new TV show.
“It’s the same showrunners, same writers and same producers as the Reba show,” McEntire revealed to Entertainment Tonight. “So it’s going to be that heartfelt, fun, funny, laugh at our silliness, but also be touched by the heart in the show. That’s what I really loved about Reba. Remember when you would watch Andy Griffith, and he always would have a lesson, about how he dealt with something that Opie was going through? So that’s what we were really looking forward to doing every episode on the Reba show, and now Happy’s Place.”
McEntire just announced she was returning to The Voice for her third season as a coach, joined by veteran coach, Gwen Stefani, plus newcomers Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé, who will both make their coaching debut.
Find “I Can’t” and all of McEntire’s music at Reba.com.