Reba McEntire is one of the most successful artists in country music, but that success didn’t come to her easily. The Grand Ole Opry member recalls a moment, fairly early in her career, when she decided she would rather not make music, than make music that wasn’t authentically her.

“It wasn’t until I moved from Polygram Records to MCA Records, that everything started to change, when I took control of my music,” Reba recalled in an interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame. “I was doing an album with Harold Shedd, who had huge success with Alabama. Harold was finding the songs for me, and he put orchestras on my records. I said, ‘Harold, I don’t really care for that. I’d really rather have a fiddle and a steel.’ He said, ‘Well, this is what’s hot right now,’ and I said, ‘Well, that’s not me.'”

Reba made the bold decision to visit label executive Jimmy Bowen, to plead her case. Thankfully, her bravery paid off.

“I went and had a little meeting with Jimmy Bowen at his house,” Reba recounted. “He said, ‘Well, woman, what is it you want?’ I said, ‘I wanna play my kind of country.’ He said, ‘What is your kind of country?’ I made him a cassette of all the Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton songs that I loved. Ray Price. I handed him that tape, and I said, ‘This is my kind of country.’ And that’s where the album title came from for that album, My Kind of Country. Jimmy started producing me.”

Not only did Reba switch producers, but she took on the task of picking her own songs, which she continues to do today. The 65-year-old announced earlier this year that she was postponing her headlining tour until 2021, out of concerns for everyone’s safety.

“We’re going to postpone our concert tour until next summer,” Reba announced in May. “I hate to do that, but out of everybody’s well-being; we just want to make sure everyone stays safe and healthy. That’s the number one main thing. I’m going to miss you all terribly. The band, crew and I, we’re really wanting to get back on stage, but this is the best thing to do right now.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of BMLG / Robby Klein