Reba McEntire has spoken candidly about her divorce from Narvel Blackstock, her husband and manager of 26 years, following the death of her stepson Brandon Blackstock in August after a lengthy cancer battle. Brandon, who was married to Kelly Clarkson until 2022, was Narvel's son from a previous marriage.
The 70-year-old singer told Esquire she felt 'scared to death' after the split in 2015. 'My manager was my husband from 1989 to 2015. Everybody took care of everything. All I had to do was get up and sing,' she said. 'When that dissolved, all that team went with him, and I was scared to death. I was deserted, abandoned, and left. I threw a fit.'
McEntire, who has a son Shelby with Narvel, said the divorce was not her idea. 'I didn't want it in any shape, form or fashion. So it was really hard to make the adjustment,' she told CMT Radio Live a year after the split. Narvel walked away with a reported $47.5 million settlement.
Speaking on The Drew Barrymore Show in 2024, she explained that their work and marriage had become inseparable. 'Our work was all the time. Whether we were getting ready in the morning, pillow talk, whatever…it was business,' she said. The pair maintained the divorce was amicable, stating they would continue to support each other.
Since the divorce, McEntire has found love again with her Happy's Place co-star Rex Linn. The couple, who were friends since the 1990s, became romantically involved in 2020 and recently got engaged. 'We are best friends. We wanna cross the finish line with each other in a relationship,' Linn told WBIR Channel 10.
