  reba nell mcentire (born march 28, 1955) is an american country music singer, songwriter and actress. she began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the kiowa high school band, on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. while a sophomore in college, she performed the national anthem at the national rodeo in oklahoma city and caught the attention of country artist red steagall. he brought her to nashville, tennessee, where she signed a contract with mercury records a year later in 1975. she released her first solo album in 1977 and released five additional studio albums under the label until 1983. signing with mca nashville records, mcentire took creative control over her second mca album, my kind of country (1984), which had a more traditional country sound and produced two number one singles: "how blue" and "somebody should leave". the album brought her breakthrough success, bringing her a series of successful albums and number one singles in the 1980s and 1990s. mcentire has since released 26 studio albums, acquired 40 number one singles, 14 number one albums, and 28 albums have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum in sales by the recording industry association of america. she has sometimes been referred to as "the queen of country". and she is one of the best-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 80 million records worldwide.{{cite news|url=http://m.pressofatla
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