Country Classic Flashback Features Reba McEntire [VIDEO]

Each Wednesday we take a trip down memory lane to highlight a classic country artist.  This week we are flashing back to the early 1990's with Reba McEntire.

Reba is, undoubtedly, not only one of the most influential women in country music, but in music as a whole.  She is credited with influencing the likes of Faith Hill, Terri Clark, Kelly Clarkson and Sara Evans. She has a successful singing and acting career that spans over 40 years.  Though that has been much for her to celebrate, there has also been tragedy.

Reba is from Oklahoma.  Her mom was a teacher and her dad a champion steer roper.  On their way home from rodeos she and her siblings taught themselves to sing harmonies and eventually they formed a band called the Singing McEntires. Reba played guitar and wrote all their songs.  They recorded a song called The Ballad of John McEntire and it sold a thousand copies.

Throughout her school years she continued performing at rodeos, which is where she was discovered.  In 1975 she signed on to Mercury Records.  Her first albums and singles didn't do so well and it wasn't until 1984 that she started seeing some success.  It was at that time that she switched labels.

Her albums did well and produced hits such as How Blue, Somebody Should Leave and Whoever's In New England.  While fans seemed to like her music, critics said she was straying too far away from traditional country.

In the midst of her success she suffered serious loss.  In 1991, she lost eight members of her band in a plane crash in California.  Reba recently sat down with Piers Morgan to talk about how that loss affected her and shaped her career.  She dedicated her album For My Broken Heart  to their memory.

She released a string of successful albums that produced several hits for her.  She took a break from music to pursue an acting career, where she excelled.  In 2003, she came back to her roots and she still has the adoration of her fans.

The Country Classic Flashback is brought to you by Midwest Machinery on East Highway 23 in Sauk Rapids, with 12 other Central Minnesota locations.