Rockin' with Reba: Country crooning redhead returns to the desert

Alan W. Petrucelli

Special To The Desert Post Weekly
April 12, 2007

Some people call Reba Nell McEntire the "Queen of Country Music," though she thinks Loretta Lynn or Kitty Wells or Patsy Cline or Dolly Parton is more deserving of the title. She prefers "the Redhead from Oklahoma." We prefer the "Heiress of Heavy Metal" - McEntire, who turned 52 on March 28, has released 30 albums, in various coatings of platinum, gold and silver.

The recordings have spawned 33 No. 1 songs; Reba's resume also boasts two Grammys, two best-selling autobiographies, five fistfuls of various honors and hosannas and one handful of film and stage credits. Her hit sitcom, "Reba," wound down its sixth-season run in February, giving the country crooner time to promote her line of clothing sold exclusively by Dillard's.

She's also taken to the road on a multi-city concert tour, returning to the desert for the first time since 1989 when she appears at the Fantasy Springs Casino Special Events Center on April 15.

We caught up with McEntire at her Los Angles home, where she lives with her manager/husband Narvel Blackstock, and their 17-year-old son, Shelby.

DESERT POST WEEKLY: Have you been to the Palm Springs area before?

REBA McENTIRE: I recorded my 1989 live album in Palm Springs ... no wait! it was Palm Desert, at the Bob Hope Theatre (the McCallum). It was May, not too hot and I played golf during the day and did the show at night. Don't ask my handicap - you gotta be good to have a handicap. I remember how beautiful the desert was, but I haven't been back since.

DPW: You once said that your TV series has made you more comfortable doing silly things. What's the silliest thing done to date?

RM: Oh good man! That's tough. Hmmm … I once poured salt into (friend) Vanessa Foster's hair. We were in a bathroom south of Durant, Okla., near the border; she was in one stall and I was in the other. I stood up on my toilet seat and poured salt over into her stall and into her hair. That's real hard to get out!

DPW: The obvious question: How did you happen to have a salt shaker with you?

RM: I went into the stall with it, with the purpose of pouring it into Vanessa's hair.

DPW: Lucy, Carrot Top or Reba - who's the funniest redhead?

RM: Lucy. She would do anything and she did and pulled it off successfully. My daughter, Chassidy, my daughter-in-law, Melissa, and my niece, Lucchese, absolutely love Lucille Ball and need their Lucy fixes.

DPW: Who's on your iPod that no one would suspect?

RM: Annie Lennox. I really like her - not to where I put on her CDs, but I download her songs. I saw her at the Hollywood Bowl and loved the way she performed. She's a strong woman and I love her voice. I love 'Twisted.'

DPW: What was the last CD you bought?

RM: Kelly Clarkson's "Breakway."

DPW: Someone e-mailed me a little known Reba fact: that you and former President Bush have an e-mail relationship.

RM: We e-mail each other on our Treos all the time - nothing political, just passing jokes back and forth. He's really into e-mail and so are his buddies. Senior Bush invited my husband and I on a private cruise to the Greek islands about three years ago. We became very good friends, and that's when the e-mail stuff started. In fact, I just had lunch with him last Thursday.

DPW: How do you thank someone for such a luxurious gift?

RM: I went back to the States with him on his plane. I knelt by his chair and said, "I want you to know that nobody has ever offered me a trip like this before and I appreciate it more than you can ever imagine." I got real tears in my eyes and he did too. He reached up and touched my face and said, "I'm glad you came."

DPW: What one item of Reba clothing would you like to see Laura Bush try on?

RM: My jeans. They fit real good and are comfortable. I think I might just send her a pair!

DPW: What about George W. Junior?

RM: My orange Western shirt with the embroidery on the shoulders. It's nice and bright.

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