Reba McEntire is 70 years young today! The Country Music Hall of Fame member, born on March 28, 1955, shares the story of her birth on social media, along with gratitude for her mother, Jacqueline, who passed away in 2020.
“The first thing I thought of this morning was I’m so glad Mama feels better today than she did 70 years ago,” McEntire writes on social media.. “I’m also glad she kept me. I’m the third of four kids. In March of 1955, Alice was three, and Pake was almost two years old. Being the rowdy, mischievous kids they were, they had Mama so tired that when her water broke in the middle of the night, she changed her nightgown and went back to sleep!”
Fortunately, Jacqueline made it to the hospital in time, but McEntire’s entrance into this world was far from easy.
“When the labor pains got more intense, Daddy drove her to the hospital in McAlester,” McEntire reveals. “I was breach so the doctor had to turn me around and get me headed out in the right direction. I was a dry/breach birth with only gas to help Mama get through it. After all that, she kept me. So glad she did…”
McEntire goes on to say that her younger sister, Susie, was born two and a half years later, calling the four of them the “Fearsome Foursome.”
“God blessed me with the best family and the best aunts, uncles, and cousins a kid could ever wish for!” McEntire says. “And what a life He’s given me. Thank you to everyone who has wished and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me last night and today. I love you with all my heart! You have made my life better, more fun and have enriched my life beyond my wildest imagination. I’m so grateful and thankful to God and my Angels for continuing to guide, direct, protect, and give me my marching orders. And for putting each of you in my life.”
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Life couldn’t be going better for McEntire right now. The Oklahoma native is starring in a TV show, Happy’s Place, on NBC, which was just picked up for a second season. The show teams her up again with her former Reba co-star, Melissa Peterman, along with McEntire’s longtime boyfriend, Rex Linn, whom she has been dating since early 2020.
“Rex and I are best friends,” McEntire boasts to Us Weekly. “We have the same likes and dislikes. We’re foodies. We love to cook. We each wanted to be a cowboy and a cowgirl. Then we got into the entertainment business instead. Our dynamic works on and off-screen.”
McEntire and Linn both live and work together, which works surprisingly well for both of them.
“I think we have made each other better,” McEntire says. “Rex brings out the little girl in me and I have fun. I’m dorky, I’m goofy. He is too. We love to laugh, and we love each other. We both love watching television. We’re always on the lookout for a new series or movie to watch. He says that it’s his homework, watching other actors and learning from them. I do it for pure enjoyment.”
McEntire is returning to host the 2025 ACM Awards, for the second year in a row. The ceremony will take place on May 8 at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Find all of McEntire’s music and upcoming shows at Reba.com.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC