Reba McEntire's Real Name: Reba Nell McEntire

Quick answer: Reba McEntire's documented full name is Reba Nell McEntire. She was born on March 28, 1955, in McAlester, Oklahoma. She is a country singer and actress, later also a television star (Britannica).

Real name and early life

Britannica gives her name in full as Reba Nell McEntire and says she was born on March 28, 1955, in McAlester, Oklahoma. The Library of Congress heading is "McEntire, Reba." An ECIP galley in that record uses Reba Nell McEntire and the date 3-28-55, matching Britannica. Some other notes in the same file list a 1954 birth year, or associate her with Chockie or Kiowa, Oklahoma, which conflicts with the McAlester place and 1955 date given by Britannica and the CIP galley. She has also recorded simply as Reba.

Career highlights

Britannica says she moved to the MCA label in 1984, began coproducing her recordings, and reached steady commercial success with albums such as Whoever's in New England (1986). The title track brought her first Grammy Award, for best female country vocal performance. By the end of 1986 she had topped the country singles chart for the seventh time. The Country Music Association named her best female vocalist in four consecutive years (1984–87).

She made her film debut in the 1990 horror comedy Tremors. The following March, a plane carrying her tour manager and seven band members crashed near San Diego, California, killing everyone on board. She paid tribute to the victims on the album For My Broken Heart (1991), which sold millions of copies, Britannica says. She continued to tour and release albums, including So Good Together (1999), Room to Breathe (2003), Reba: Duets (2007), and Love Somebody (2015). Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope (2017) later won a Grammy for best roots gospel album. She was a Kennedy Center honoree in 2018. Later records include Stronger Than the Truth (2019), the box set Revived Remixed Revisited (2021), My Chains Are Gone: Hymns and Gospel Favorites (2022), and Not That Fancy (2023). She also starred in the television series Reba and has owned several businesses.

Name notes for searchers

Reba Nell McEntire is the documented full name; she performs as Reba McEntire and sometimes as Reba. Searchers looking for Reba Nell or Reba in a country-music context are usually aiming at the same person. She should not be confused with other entertainers named Reba.