Reba McEntire has claimed her first win on The Voice. The 69-year-old, who had two team members heading into the finale, won Season 25 with her contestant, Asher HaVon.
“It feels wonderful, especially that it’s Asher,” McEntire told Entertainment Tonight after her inaugural win. “I’m just tickled to pieces. But I gotta say something about The Voice: look how Asher is dressed. Every time you got on stage, you looked regal. You presented yourself with regalness. I was so proud of him. But they do such a good job on this show. The sets tonight, the design — unbelievable.”
This is McEntire’s second season as a coach on The Voice, after taking the place left vacant when Blake Shelton exited the show, and she admits she learned plenty after her first season last year.
“I’ll tell you what I have learned more: you’ve got to let the expressions, the emotions come through,” the Country Music Hall of Fame member said, sharing it was HaVon who made that lesson clear to her. “Because, there was one song you were going to sing, and you said, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to perform this; I can’t relate to it.’ And then I said, ‘Think of somebody who can relate to it, and channel that.’ So that’s what I’ve been doing, for 30, 40 years in my business.
“If I am singing about a situation I’ve never dealt with, I channel somebody who has,” she continued. “So, I kind of, without knowing it, coached you that, and I had been doing that, but I didn’t know I had been doing that. I’m learning. You teach as you were taught, but then I guess I was just pulling it out of my head.”
It was a big night for McEntire on The Voice. In addition to clinching her first win with HaVon, she also invited Lainey Wilson to become the next member of the Grand Ole Opry, an invitation she found out she was giving one day before it was issued.
“They know I’m not very good about keeping secrets,” McEntire said, explaining the last-minute notification. “I get excited, and then I forget who I tell what to, so that’s probably a good idea that they didn’t tell me. And I’m really, really tired.”
When inviting Wilson, McEntire praised her for carrying the torch for country music, much like she has done throughout her career.
“Lainey, I am so proud of you. You did a wonderful job,” McEntire said after Wilson’s performance. “I have heard that I have inspired you in what you have done so far, and I am thrilled to death if I have had anything to do with your career, but you are blowing it up.”
“I was so proud of you at the ACMs the other night, and I couldn’t be more proud to be the one that helps you continue to bridge the gap between our generations, keep them all going,” she added. “I’d like to be the person to invite you to be an official member of the Grand Ole Opry.”
McEntire’s other contestant, Josh Sanders, came in second, while Bryan Olesen and Nathan Chester, both on John Legend’s team, took third and fourth place, respectively. Dan + Shay’s team member Karen Waldrup came in fifth place.
McEntire has already signed on to be part of Season 26, airing this fall. She will be joined by veteran coach, Gwen Stefani, and newcomers Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé, McEntire will also appear in a new sitcom, Happy’s Place, also airing on NBC this fall, appearing alongside her former Reba co-star, Melissa Peterman, as well as her boyfriend, Rex Linn.
Find all of McEntire’s music and upcoming shows at Reba.com