<\/p>\n
After 50 years in showbiz, Reba McEntire<\/strong> has done it all. From the rodeo circuit to the Country Music Hall of Fame, the 70-year-old icon has been a constant presence on stage and screen. Now, after a year of incredible personal highs and deep lows, the singer is opening up about her future, including her official thoughts on retirement.<\/p>\n Fans who are worried about Reba hanging up her boots and microphone can breathe a huge sigh of relief. The country music icon has officially announced that she has no plans to retire now, though she is thinking seriously about the need to \u201cslow down.\u201d<\/p>\n In a candid new cover story for People<\/a> released Thursday, the country music superstar explained her philosophy on the matter, revealing a pivotal conversation she had with fellow legend, Dolly Parton<\/strong>, 79.<\/p>\n “I don’t know when. It could be in 20 years,” Reba said about retirement. “I think I’ll know when it’s the time. Dolly [Parton] and I talked about that an awful lot when she did the Reba show, and I said, ‘Are you going to retire?'”<\/p>\n Dolly’s response was one that stuck with Reba. “She said, ‘Why would I? What in the world could I do and have as much fun as what I’m doing in this job right now?'”<\/p>\n Reba’s final decision on the matter? “I agree with her a hundred percent,” she declared. “Slow down, maybe, but no plans of retiring.”<\/p>\n That “no-plans-of-retiring” attitude is precisely what turned Reba from a “rodeo cowgirl” in Oklahoma into a global superstar. Since signing her first record deal in 1975, she has become one of the most successful female country performers of her generation, according to the official website<\/a> of The Country Music Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n But her success is not just on the charts. Reba built a multimedia empire, founding Starstruck Entertainment in 1988. She also became a beloved household name with her hit TV comedy, Reba, which ran for six seasons from 2001 to 2007.<\/p>\n Throughout it all, she has been a voice for her fans.<\/p>\n “I’m trying to sing songs for women, to say for them what they can’t say for themselves,” she told the Chicago Tribune<\/a> in 1986. \u201cBefore, a lot of women identified with [Loretta Lynn\u2019s] \u2018Don\u2019t Come Home A-Drinkin\u2019 With Lovin On Your Mind.\u2019 Now, it\u2019s \u2018don\u2019t even think about coming home, because I ain\u2019t gonna be here. I ain\u2019t gonna put up with that kind of carrying on.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The decision to keep working comes during a chapter in her life that has brought both immense joy and deep sorrow.<\/p>\n In August, Reba mourned the tragic loss of her late stepson, Brandon Blackstock<\/strong>, who died of cancer at age 48. Blackstock was the son of her ex-husband Narvel Blackstock and the ex-husband of Kelly Clarkson.<\/p>\n “My relationship with my stepson, Brandon Blackstock, was precious,” McEntire told People<\/a> on Tuesday. “I absolutely loved that child.”<\/p>\n Amid that profound loss, Reba has also found incredible happiness. She is currently engaged to her Happy’s Place co-star, actor Rex Linn<\/strong>, 68.<\/p>\n The star says she is “happier now than I’ve ever been in my life.”<\/p>\n Reba is not just saying she is not retiring\u2014her schedule proves it. The country icon is currently busier than ever with a slate of high-profile projects.<\/p>\n This fall, she is pulling double duty on NBC, returning as a coach for Season 28 of The Voice <\/strong>and starring in Season 2 of her hit sitcom Happy’s Place, which premieres on November 7.<\/p>\n She is also kicking off the holiday season in a big way. On December 3, Reba will host the beloved Christmas in Rockefeller Center special, an honor she says she is “really excited” about.<\/p>\n “It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do,” she told People<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n It is clear that Reba is living her own advice to \u201cenjoy every minute\u201d that a long life has to offer.<\/p>\n “I love this chapter in my life,\u201d she told People. \u201cI’m very grateful.”<\/p>\n This story was originally reported by Parade<\/a> on Oct 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the News<\/a> section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After 50 years in showbiz, Reba McEntire has done it all. From the rodeo circuit to the Country Music Hall of Fame, the 70-year-old icon has been a constant presence on stage and screen. Now, after a year of incredible personal highs and deep lows, the singer is opening up about her future, including her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2113989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[331269,22846,22641,42840],"class_list":["post-2113988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-brandon-blackstock","tag-country-music","tag-dolly-parton","tag-reba-mcentire"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Country-Icon-Reba-McEntire-70-Announces-Retirement-Decision.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2113988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2113988"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2113988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2113990,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2113988\/revisions\/2113990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2113989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2113988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2113988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2113988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}