Reba McEntire Reveals She Wanted To Quit Singing After Losing Her Mother
By Kelly Fisher
October 10, 2023
Reba McEntire shared heartfelt stories, recipes and more in her new book, Not That Fancy, which released on Tuesday (October 10) following its companion album with stunning acoustic renditions of some of the beloved country star’s biggest hits throughout her career. McEntire, who is also serving as a coach on The Voice for the first time in the show’s current season, also included an emotional new song in the collection, “Seven Minutes In Heaven.”
In a new interview on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna on Tuesday, McEntire said it’s a song “that really touches your heart (and) chokes you up,” especially after losing her mother, Jacqueline, in 2020. Thinking of her late mother while singing “Seven Minutes In Heaven,” McEntire hopes that the sentimental ballad will touch others’ hearts, too.
McEntire revealed, though, that after losing her mother, she “didn’t want to” sing anymore. “I told my little sister Susie when we were working at the house, I said, ‘I don’t know if I want to sing anymore,’” she said in her interview on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna. “She said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Because I always sang for Mama.’”
McEntire went on to speak about her mother’s encouragement as she pursued a career in music (it’s nearly her 50th anniversary in the music business), and now, she’s “busier than I’ve ever been.”
The Oklahoma-born superstar announced plans to release her lifestyle book, Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots, earlier this year. Complete with a foreword by fellow country megastar Garth Brooks, McEntire shares dozens of recipes and stories about faith, family and friends, plus never-before-seen photos and more. The companion album, which released on Friday (October 6), includes career-spanning fan-favorites like “Consider Me Gone,” “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia,” “I’m A Survivor” and others. Find the full Not That Fancy album on iHeartRadio here, and watch McEntire’s interview with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager here: