Reba McEntire 　　Reba McEntire（瑞芭·麥肯泰爾）1954年3月28日生于Oklahoma的Chockie，父親是一名賽牛師，家中有四個(gè)孩子。她從母親那里接受最初的音樂(lè)教育，經(jīng)常在去牛場(chǎng)的路上教孩子們唱歌。5歲那年，有次在一家飯店大廳里大聲唱《Jesus Loves Me》，有位牛仔把一枚硬幣放到了她手里，這是她掙的第一份唱歌錢(qián)。

　　十幾歲時(shí)，McEntire和妹妹Susic、哥哥Pake組成三重唱組，在一起唱了好幾年，并希望能和一家唱片公司簽約。1974年，McEntire在Oklahoma City的全國(guó)賽牛決賽上演唱國(guó)歌，受到歌手兼作曲家Red Steagall賞識(shí)，幫她與Nashville的Mercury唱片公司簽了約。她母親回憶說(shuō)：“開(kāi)始Reba拒絕單獨(dú)簽約，但是我們想先去一個(gè)，對(duì)其他人會(huì)有幫助�！倍�后來(lái)的確通過(guò)她的幫助使她的兄弟妹妹們都走上了歌唱道路。

　　在Mercury公司獲得了4首進(jìn)入排行榜前10名的歌曲后，1984年她轉(zhuǎn)投到MCA唱片公司。1985年的《How Blue》榮獲榜首，一直到1992年的《Is There Life Out There》，幾年間總共有24首歌曲進(jìn)入前10名，包括14首第一名。在此期間，她的專輯總銷量達(dá)兩千萬(wàn)張。她還4次獲得鄉(xiāng)村音樂(lè)協(xié)會(huì)的“最佳女歌手獎(jiǎng)”，1986年獲得美國(guó)鄉(xiāng)村音樂(lè)學(xué)院CMA的“最佳演員獎(jiǎng)”。自從1976年以《I Donu2019t Want to Be a One Night Stand》上榜到1983年初以《Canu2019t Even Get the Blues》榮登榜首，Reba McEntire花了將近7年時(shí)間。這是一段緩慢的成名過(guò)程，但她并不為此而不快。她說(shuō)：“如果我像現(xiàn)在的一些歌星一下子就串到榜首，我還有點(diǎn)掌握不住。我沒(méi)有這種思想準(zhǔn)備，或許就從此不唱歌而去洗衣服刷盤(pán)子了�！�

　　McEntire可說(shuō)是作為鄉(xiāng)村音樂(lè)的皇后進(jìn)入90年代的，不斷有歌曲進(jìn)入前10名，多次名列第一，并以不斷創(chuàng)新來(lái)維護(hù)這個(gè)地位。她在一些歌里加入了一點(diǎn)流行音樂(lè)色彩，如她唱的《Sunday Kind of Love》、《Walk On》和《For My Broken Heart》等。她的舞臺(tái)演出也越發(fā)令人目眩，大場(chǎng)面、新服裝、大屏幕，外加伴舞。評(píng)論界批評(píng)她放棄了鄉(xiāng)村音樂(lè)，但McEntire堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為她只是投歌迷所好。她與歌迷有著良好的關(guān)系，她說(shuō)：“每次演出后我和他們交談，我很注意我的歌迷俱樂(lè)部和他們給我的信。我從他們那得到信息，如果我走得太遠(yuǎn)，他們也會(huì)告訴我的。“她也和電臺(tái)聽(tīng)眾保持密切接觸，經(jīng)常打電話給他們征求意見(jiàn)。

　　McEntire的成功秘訣，就在于一貫堅(jiān)持自己的風(fēng)格，不張揚(yáng)，對(duì)自己的成就保持誠(chéng)實(shí)的態(tài)度。她說(shuō)：“我真沒(méi)有帶來(lái)什么新東西。我學(xué)習(xí)，向每個(gè)人學(xué)，注意觀察、研究，然后我作出貢獻(xiàn)，但確實(shí)什么也沒(méi)有帶來(lái)。我是從Oklahoma來(lái)的無(wú)知的鄉(xiāng)下人。我要感謝我的導(dǎo)師們，像Loretta Lynn、Dolly Parton、Barbara Mandrell等等，正是由于有機(jī)會(huì)和她們?cè)谝黄�，我才能成為一名好歌手，�?duì)音樂(lè)有所認(rèn)識(shí)。我希望我對(duì)歌唱技巧有所提高，鼓舞了一些孩子去唱歌，而最重要的，我希望，我祈禱，我一直是人們心目中的一個(gè)正面形象�！� 終于，這一切努力使她成為鄉(xiāng)村音樂(lè)中最成功最受歡迎的女歌星。

　　五千萬(wàn)張唱片的銷售記錄，使得出道２８年的Reba McEntire成為鄉(xiāng)村音樂(lè)領(lǐng)域內(nèi)最成功的女歌手。不僅如此，她在百老匯、電影、電視等領(lǐng)域內(nèi)也是得心應(yīng)手，同時(shí)她還寫(xiě)了兩本書(shū)，售出達(dá)一百萬(wàn)之巨。

　　 As McEntire sees it, amazing songs have little to do with genre, and everything to do with emotion and nuance. "Ive been a fan of different kinds of music all my life," she says. "I really dont like to categorize music. To me, theres only two categories: good and bad. And I try to sing the good songs, and listen to good music. When it touches my heart, and I can deliver it with all my heart and soul, then its a good Reba McEntire song. In the end, I want all the songs to touch my listeners hearts." Its that devotion to making quality music that brings her audience back to Reba again and again. "The great thing about it is, my fans have always continued to go along with me on these journeys I take, whether its television, music, Broadway or movies. They really hang in there with me, and I sure do appreciate that. Its been a good journey." The next chapter on that journey is about to begin, with Duets - and the amazing music created when Rebas signature voice finds new harmony with a few stellar friends. "I hope people are going to be caught up in the moment of listening to this music," says McEntire. "Theres a lot of love in this record, because I love these people that I get to sing with. And I think people are going to love it, too. I honestly do."

　　From the moment you hear the voice, you know it: fierce and powerful, clear and passionate, a voice that has sold 49 million records, a voice that could belong to no one else but the woman millions of fans the world over know only as Reba. So what do you do when youre the owner of that iconic voice -- and the embodiment of a genre-bending artistic presence that spans the worlds of music, screen and stage? If youre Reba McEntire, you find creative soul mates in 11 other amazing voices and produce a groundbreaking collection of music simply titled Reba Duets. Or, as McEntire herself might describe it, you gather up some friends old and new, and have a party - oh, and make an amazing new album at the same time. "It was like a family reunion. It was just so much fun!" says the easygoing superstar. And the results? "Well, Im just so tickled!" she says with her trademark Southern charm. "I cant wait for everyone to hear it." Duets was a long time coming, says McEntire. "You have to keep creating things, thinking about whats next and how to keep it fresh for your fans," she says. "Ive always thought a duets album would be a great thing to get to do, and the timing was finally right to make it happen."