In late March, country music superstar Reba McEntire celebrated a personal milestone with thousands of her closest friends. At a concert stop in Connecticut, her family rolled a cake out on stage to celebrate her 70th birthday and led the crowd in a spirited rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
Life has rarely been better. “I think I am the happiest I’ve ever been,” Reba recently told Extra, adding that her partner and Happy’s Place costar, Rex Linn, has everything to do with it. “He’s the love of my life and we have so much fun together,” she said. “He supports me, I support him. We really love working together, hanging out together, whatever we do together, we have fun.”
At an age when many people think about slowing down, Reba is still ramping up. In early May, she hosted the Academy of Country Music Awards for the 18th time. She’s also in preproduction on a film adaptation of The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion, based on a novel from Fannie Flagg that she plans to star in. And she’s returning as a coach to season 28 of The Voice this fall.
But that’s not all — she released the single “Trailblazer” with Lainey Wilson and Miranda Lambert on May 9. “I remember listening to it in the dressing room. I couldn’t find a flaw in it, not a word,” Reba told Billboard about the tune, which was written by the younger women. “It was that great. I was very emotional when I heard it.”
Reba, who grew up in Oklahoma, has always worn her heart on her sleeve, which has endeared her to her fans who have stuck with her through good times and bad. “I thank God for the fans,” she told Variety. “They are people who travel, spend their hard-earned money to buy tickets, to buy albums. They’re faithful … If you don’t have the fans, you might as well be singing in the shower, because they’re the ones that put food on our tables.”
So it’s no surprise that when Reba and Rex celebrated their anniversary as a couple in January, she sent a message to her fans first. “Celebrating five years of tater tots this week!” she posted on Instagram, referencing their nicknames for each other. (Rex calls Reba “Tater Tot,” while she calls him “Sugar Tot.”)
Reba McEntire and Rex Linn
Reba McEntire Is ‘Truly Committed’ to Rex Linn
The couple, who first met on the 1991 set of The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, but fell in love after getting reacquainted on the set of Young Sheldon, have never been happier. “Reba knows a good man is hard to find and no one is perfect, but she says Rex gets her like no other man ever has,” confides a friend. “He’s funny, loyal, down-to-earth, a real gentleman, and best of all, he isn’t about the drama. All the traits Reba has ever wanted in a partner.”
However, Reba has joked that Rex’s insistence on rehearsals can be a little trying at times. “Every morning we have ‘coffee camp,’ and so, I’ll go get the coffee and he’s got a script,” she said on Late Night with Seth Meyers. “And I’m like, ‘Can’t we have coffee first?’”
The friend says that if “Rex got down on one knee, she’d say yes,” but marriage isn’t a requirement for Reba’s happiness. “I’ve been married twice. After the second one dissolved, I don’t have much faith in being bound by a piece of paper or a ring,” Reba told E! News. “I’m truly committed to Rex, so if that’s something he feels totally strong about, that’s fine with me. He’s never been married before. So if he wants to experience that, I’m OK with that.”