It’s been a decade since Reba McEntire and Narvel Blackstock ended their 26-year marriage, but time hasn’t erased the pain or the lessons that followed. For years, Reba kept quiet — choosing grace and work over public confession. But now, ten years later, she’s finally opening up about how deeply the split shook her — both personally and professionally.
“It was devastating,” Reba admitted in a recent interview. “It wasn’t just losing a marriage. It was losing part of my foundation — my partner in business, in music, in everything I’d built my adult life around.”
When the couple divorced in 2015, fans were stunned. Together, they had been one of country music’s most powerful teams: Reba, the fiery redhead whose voice carried the soul of the American heartland, and Narvel, her longtime manager, guitarist, and closest confidant. Their relationship had seemed unshakable — forged in the long roads of touring, television, and family.
But behind the smiles, Reba now admits, there were growing cracks — quiet distances that success couldn’t bridge. “When you’ve been with someone that long,” she said, “you start thinking life will always stay that way. But then one day, it doesn’t.”
The divorce forced her to rediscover herself — not as a brand or a performer, but as a woman starting over at sixty. “I had to learn to stand on my own again,” Reba shared. “To make decisions for me. It was scary at first, but it was also freeing. I found strength I didn’t know I had.”
In the years since, Reba has rebuilt her life and career with extraordinary grace — starring in new shows, releasing new music, and finding joy again with actor Rex Linn, whom she calls her “sweetheart and blessing.” Still, she doesn’t shy away from the past. “You can forgive and move on,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean you forget how it felt. It changes you — and maybe that’s how you grow.”
Ten years later, Reba’s honesty has reminded fans why they’ve always loved her — not just for her songs, but for her strength.
Because behind every note of “Somebody Should Leave” and “Is There Life Out There” lies the truth of a woman who lived it — and came out shining.
