page_title: Reba McEntire
section_title: 1984–90: Breakthrough
hierarchical_section_title: Reba McEntire / Music career / 1984–90: Breakthrough
caption_attribution_description: Reba McEntire in Washington, D.C.
context_page_description: Reba Nell McEntire is an American country singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. 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 at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, she performed the National Anthem at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City and caught the attention of country artist Red Steagall who brought her to Nashville, Tennessee. 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, 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.
context_section_description: McEntire signed with MCA Nashville Records in 1984 and released her seventh studio album, Just a Little Love. Harold Shedd was originally the album's producer; however, McEntire rejected his suggestions towards country pop arrangements. It was instead produced by Norro Wilson, although the album still had a distinguishable country pop sound. Dissatisfied with the album's sound, she went to MCA president, Jimmy Bowen, who told McEntire to find material that was best-suited to her liking. Instead of finding new material, she found previously recorded country hits from her own record collection, which was then recorded for the album. The album's material included songs originally released as singles by Ray Price ("Don't You Believe Her", "I Want to Hear It from You"), Carl Smith ("Before I Met You"), Faron Young ("He's Only Everything") and Connie Smith ("You've Got Me [Right Where You Want Me"]). The album spawned two number-one singles: "How Blue" and "Somebody Should Leave". It was given positive reviews from critics, with Billboard praising McEntire as "the finest woman country singer since Kitty Wells" and Rolling Stone critics honoring her as one of their Top 5 favorite country artists. Upon its release, My Kind of Country became her highest-peaking album on the Top Country Albums chart, reaching No. 13. The album also included instruments such as a fiddle and pedal steel guitar, and was aimed more towards a traditional country sound. McEntire later was praised as a "new traditionalist", along with Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, and Randy Travis. That year, she won the Country Music Association Awards' Female Vocalist of the Year, her first major industry award. The album was certified Gold.
  In 1985, McEntire released her third MCA album, Have I Got a Deal for You, which followed the same traditional format as My Kind of Country. It was the first album produced by McEntire and was co-produced with Jimmy Bowen. Like her previous release, the album received positive feedback, including Rolling Stone, which called it a "promising debut". The album's second single, "Only in My Mind" was entirely written by McEntire and reached No. 5 on the Billboard country chart. On January 17, 1986, McEntire became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee and has remained an active artist-member there since. In February 1986, McEntire's ninth studio album, Whoever's in New England was released. For this album, McEntire and co-producer Jimmy Bowen incorporated her traditional music style into a mainstream sound that was entirely different from anything she had previously recorded. Country Music: The Rough Guide called the production of the title track, "bigger and sentimentalism more obvious, even manipulative". The title track peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart and won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance the following year. In addition, the album became McEntire's first release to certify gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (and later was certified Platinum). At the end of the year, McEntire won Entertainer of the Year from the Country Music Association, the highest honor in the awards show.
  McEntire released a second album in 1986 (her tenth overall), What Am I Gonna Do About You. Allmusic critic William Ruhlmann was not overly pleased with album's production, saying that it lacked the features that had been set forth on Whoever's in New England. Rulhlmann criticized the title track for "something of the feel of 'Whoever's in New England' in its portrayal of a woman trying to recover from a painfully ended love affair". The title track was the lead single from the release and became a number-one single shortly after its release. This album also spawned a second number-one in "One Promise Too Late". The following year, her first MCA compilation, Greatest Hits was released and became her first album to be certified platinum in sales, eventually certifying triple-platinum. A twelfth studio album, The Last One to Know, was released in 1987. The emotions of her divo
caption: McEntire in Washington, D.C., November 2000
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