Reba McEntire Celebrates Five Decades of Music With Themed EPs: ‘You Got To Keep Recreating Yourself’

Superstar Reba McEntire has amassed a fanbase that knows her from any number of entry points — her five decades of making music, work in television ( Happy’s Place, Reba, The Voice ), Broadway ( Annie Get Your Gun ), film ( The Hammer, The Gambler ) or even retail and hospitality.

So as she approached her 50th anniversary of releasing music, McEntire — who has scored 60 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, including 24 No.

1s — wanted a way to celebrate her achievements while continuing to look ahead.

In April, the Country Music Hall of Famer and her team began rolling out a series of monthly music capsules that allow fans to connect her deep catalog of music with her newer material and help introduce younger fans to her vast array of songs.

Each EP revolves around a central theme, and pairs a new song with four catalog songs.

On Friday (Aug.

21), McEntire will release the latest EP in the series, Tourist , with songs from the pen of Grammy-winning songwriter Brandy Clark.

“Every song I’ve recorded of Brandy’s, pretty much every song I’ve listened to that she sent to me, touches my heart.

She’s one of my favorite songwriters of all time,” McEntire says.

Previous EPs, which are only available digitally, include One Night in Tulsa , Hurt Like That , Ain’t Gonna Keep It Waitin’ and Ring Ring.

One Night in Tulsa was built around McEntire’s home state of Oklahoma, with the title track appearing alongside catalog songs including the 2007 Ronnie Dunn collaboration “Does The Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma.” Ring Ring centered on songs with a telephone storyline, pairing its title track with older songs such as 1994’s “Why Haven’t I Heard From You.” McEntire credits her manager , Justin McIntosh, and label home MCA, with spearheading the EP series.

“I thought it was totally genius, because the catalog business is booming right now,” says McEntire.

“People are getting very nostalgic and they like the old songs they are familiar with.

So, to pair a brand new song with past songs that are in the catalog, I told Justin, ‘This is one of the most creative, genius things I’ve seen done.’” “Reba sits in a unique position,” adds McIntosh.