Washington, DC (Top40 Charts / AARP) In a surprisingly candid interview with AARP The Magazine, country music sensation and star of ABC's new hit series "Malibu Country,"
Reba McEntire reveals that after 30 years in the business, she has no plans to slow down and she believes that the best is yet to come. Beloved for her thick-as-buttermilk accent and carefree attitude, McEntire tells it like it is, speaking on everything from what's on her bucket list, to what truly makes her heart sing.
The following are excerpts from the December/January issue of AARP The Magazine cover story, available in homes today and online NOW at www.aarp.org/magazine.
On her marriage to husband and manager Narvel Blackstock:
"Narvel became my manager because everybody kind of patted me on the head and said, 'You've done it. Good girl.' They assumed I had peaked. Narvel was like, 'Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Here's what we could do.'"
"Narvel will go, 'OK, we've got three days; where do you want to go?' We keep it interesting."
On her best friend and son, professional race car driver Shelby Blackstock:
"From the minute I knew I was pregnant, he and I bonded. It's a special connection."
"When I found out I had interviews in L.A. the day he was running Indianapolis, I almost cried. You never quit worrying about your children."
On being comfortable with herself:
"I love what I'm doing, and I love me in my skin. Of course I'm still trying to figure out how to fix my hair, because I never learned that as a kid."
On the camaraderie of acting:
"It's something that's wanted to come out ever since I was little, at playtime with another person. That's what I absolutely love to do."
On trying new things:
"People said, 'Weren't you scared you were going to fail?' I'm not afraid of failure. I just want to try things. If they don't work out, I'll do something else."
On her early fame:
"All I knew is, you recorded a song and got on the radio, and you was a star. I thought 'OK, I'm ready.' I wanted to be Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, up there with that stature."
On comparisons to Dolly Parton:
"It's not that I'm a better singer. Dolly is still my idol. I still have not passed her in my eyes."
Family and friends on Reba:
"Reba totally makes it fun. There's no ego. She comes in like she's a teenager, laughing, going, 'How are yew?' Or, 'He's a mo-ron.' That accent is to die for. And that little impish grin of hers cracks me up. She's just normal, but you'd hardly call her average." - Lily Tomlin, Emmy Award-winning actress and "Malibu Country" co-star
"God gave her vocal cords of steel but he also gave her a sweet style that sounds like nobody else." "You don't want to be on her bad side…We used to do a lot of trap shooting, and she can hold her own when it comes to protecting herself" -
Linda Davis, Singer
"We're best friends. We always get along. At least 99.9 percent of the time." - Shelby Blackstock, son
For the complete interview, check out https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/music/info-11-2012/red-hot-reba-mcentire-sparks-malibu.html.
