Reba McEntire Is Happier Than Ever: 'What More Could I Ask For?'

With 60 top 10 hits, a boatload of prestigious awards and plenty of hard-earned wisdom under her big-buckled belt, is having a major moment.

She’s mad about her partner of more than four years, actor . She’s a kick-ass mega mentor on The Voice. And, this month, she makes a triumphant return to episodic TV with NBC’s new sitcom, Happy’s Place, playing Bobbie, a woman who inherits a bar from her father only to learn she must share it with an earnest half sister she never knew about.

“Oh my gosh, I’m grateful for everything,” McEntire, 69, gushes. “I get to do my singing, and now I get to be on The Voice and Happy’s Place. I’m pinching myself.”

Here, the superstar tells Us Weekly how she put it all together.

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I would say that’s true. I’ve got two great jobs. I have a love of my life, Rex Linn. We’ve been together for almost five years. And my health is good, his health is good. My family is healthy. What more could I ask for?

Rex and I are best friends. 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.

No. We love to act. We want to be prepared. So, he and I rehearse a lot. We did a Lifetime movie together. We did Big Sky on ABC. We’ve both been on Young Sheldon, and now we’re doing Happy’s Place together, so we get real serious about rehearsals and we know our dialogue for sure. To have fun and be comfortable with dialogue, you’ve got to know it. We work hard on that.

It depends if there’s a college football game on. If so, we’ll be in front of the television watching football. If not, we’re rehearsing or going outside and feeding the birds and watering the rose garden. We just love to be together.

Related: ‘Reba’ Cast: Where Are They Now?Reba McEntire proved she is more than just a country superstar when she led her own TV show — appropriately called Reba. The sitcom ran for six seasons from October 2001 to February 2007. McEntire starred as a single mother raising her three children — played by JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Scarlett Pomers and Mitch Holleman […]

University of Texas, Austin. The Longhorns!

I think we have made each other better. 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. Right now we’re streaming The Penguin.

It really makes no difference to me. I’m fine with the way we are. If Rex ever wants to get married, then we’ll talk about it, but I’m fine. I love our relationship 100 percent.

I have his back, and he has mine. That’s very important. I feel very safe with Rex.

NBC

I think it’s a newfound strength. Once you’re confident in your love life, your at-home life, then you can go out and conquer the world.

It seems so. I didn’t expect it. But everything just gelled, the success of us getting to work together, my touring and everything else fell into place. Timing is everything and everything happens for a reason.

It’s been true every step of the way. When I started in the music business, I didn’t make big leaps and bounds. I didn’t have one thing that catapulted me into success. My growth was little bitty steps every year, but steady. I knew nothing about the music business, so when good things happened, I was very thankful. It also gave me time to build a team of friends and people in the business who could teach me, and I had fun learning.

I surround myself with people who are not yes-people. If I ever get a little egotistical, a little too big for my britches, they always say, “Don’t get too big for your raisin!”

Related: Reba McEntire and Rex Linn’s Relationship TimelineReba McEntire and Rex Linn first crossed paths 30 years before they started dating. McEntire met the actor while shooting 1991’s The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw but didn’t pursue a romance until January 2020. “We’ve kept in contact with each other over the years, and we both know the same people, so […]

I certainly wouldn’t be where I am right now without my faith. God is my rock, my everything. I wake up in the morning talking to him and I go to sleep at night talking to him. He’s my guidance, my angel, my Holy Spirit, my mother Mary. I’ve got the whole team there on my side.

Oh, you know it! I sure am! I can’t wait.

Slow down. Relish it. Shelby jokes that he thought his mama was a video camera. I had the camera up all the time, taking video and pictures. I spent every minute I could with Shelby. I absolutely loved that child. Still do. I was almost 35 when I had him, so it was later in life, and I was ready.

A good one! I want them to call me Grrrand-ma-MA [pronounced with a dramatic trill]. They’ll have to learn how to roll their Rs, but they’ll get it. [Laughs.]

John Shearer/WireImage

That would be “Fancy.” It wasn’t a 
No. 1 record, but that’s what everybody associates with me.

“I’m a Survivor.” And many people, myself included, relate to “Is There Life Out There?” I choose songs because they touch my heart, and if I do my job when I’m singing it, hopefully it’ll touch your heart too.

Absolutely. They don’t have to have the perfect voice. They don’t have to be on pitch. They have to make me feel something.

Oh, he’s a pussycat. He’s so much fun. And he does get very emotional. He gets involved. So yeah, I was handing him quite a few Kleenexes.

Related: ‘The Voice’ Coaches Through the YearsTaking a look back. When The Voice debuted on NBC in 2011, no one knew what to expect from yet another singing competition show. However, it quickly became a success, with Carson Daly as host and a group of successful, entertaining coaches ready to find the next superstar. Kicking off the first season, Blake Shelton, […]

Snoop is in his own lane. He is different from anyone I’ve ever run into, and everybody loves him. He’s a really great addition. With Michael Bublé, he’s just the biggest-hearted, biggest kid. I love him with all my heart. He’s so much fun to work with, to play with and we’re having a blast on The Voice because of him. Gwen and I laugh our butts off at him. He and Gwen are good buddies.

I love The Voice. I love being a part of the NBC family with Happy’s Place. I’m having the time of my life.

I love my country roots. I grew up on a working cattle ranch. I was a cowgirl, and I’ll never get away from that.

Trae Patton/NBC

Not fondly! [Laughs.] I wasn’t that good.

Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun. I’d do that again. I love being on Broadway. And she was someone I admired, even before I started school. There was a television show, Annie Oakley, that we’d watch — when the TV would work.

People related to it because there are many in that situation across the United States — teen pregnancy, moving in with mom, challenging things happening. But primarily, it’s the heart of it. It was funny, clever, mischievous, dorky, but it had a lot of heart.

It’s very important that everybody joins together, has fun together on set and off the property. I mean, we even have sessions at our house. Everybody comes over and we go over dialogue and rehearse.

I could! My team is very, very strong.

Related: ‘The Voice‘ Winners Through the Years: Where Are They Now?The Voice has been stunning viewers for years with amazing talent from across the United States, crowning 25 winners since it premiered in 2011. During season 19 of the NBC singing competition series, New York native Carter Rubin blew audiences away with his singing abilities and saw coach Gwen Stefani secure her first win. At just […]

It’s full of great songs — great music from great musicians and writers. I love to record. And it’s so much fun to find songs. I don’t write many myself. But I do love to listen to other people’s creations.

I’m not a songwriter. I like to let people do their own job. I go to the songwriters for songs, and I let producers produce. I let the musicians play their instruments, and I do the singing. I listen to thousands of songs to find 15 or 20 to record. That’s my mission. I’m always looking for great songs.

The next morning! I’ll have made it. In the next decade, I hope I’m doing what I’m doing now. Having fun, loving my work, loving my days off from work, which recently haven’t been very many. Spending time with my family and my friends. Wow. If it can get any better, I can’t wait to see it.

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I want my legacy to be that everybody thought I was a kind and fair person and fun to be around.

Happy’s Place premieres Friday, October 18, at 8 pm on NBC.

For more on Reba, watch the exclusive video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly — on newsstands now.

In this articleReba McEntire

Reba McEntire Is Happier Than Ever: 'What More Could I Ask For?'

Reba McEntire Is Happier Than Ever: 'What More Could I Ask For?'

Reba McEntire Is Happier Than Ever: 'What More Could I Ask For?'

Reba McEntire Is Happier Than Ever: 'What More Could I Ask For?'

Reba McEntire Is Happier Than Ever: 'What More Could I Ask For?'