Reba McEntire was entirely in her element Thursday night in Nashville when she headlined Music City Rodeo, Nashville’s first-ever PRCA Pro Rodeo, at Bridgestone Arena.
The Music City Rodeo continues Friday and Saturday nights with Jelly Roll and Tim McGraw as headliners.
McEntire is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame with 35 No. 1 songs and a slew of hit movies and television shows under her belt buckle – but she’s also, in her words, a third-generation rodeo brat. Her grandpap and her daddy were both world champion riders, and her grandpap was a member of the association that became the PRCA. McEntire spent her youth as a barrel racer, but Thursday night, she had her eye on another competition.
“I wanted to be in the mutton bustin’ contest so bad I couldn’t hardly stand it,” she said from the stage. “Could we please give those young men and women a big round of applause? That was probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
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Reba Wanted to Compete in Mutton Bustin’
Mutton bustin’ is an event where young children ride sheep bareback as long as they can.
McEntire had plenty of time to watch all the events because, like the popular Houston Rodeo, Music City Rodeo offers two hours of barrel racing, calf roping, bull riding, and more before the night’s headliner takes the stage for at least 90 minutes of music.
The event started with thousands of fans filing into Bridgestone Arena. Unlike most days where fresh ice or a massive concert stage greets fans, loose dirt filled the arena floor. Cables suspended the stage overhead. Cowboys trying to ride bucking horses and rope cows, along with politely waving bedazzled rodeo queens, served as McEntire’s opening act. When the rodeo events were wrapped, lines of fans snaked down hallways, waiting to gain access to the fresh dirt for an even closer look at the stage. About 30 minutes later, the stage was on the ground, the gear was set up, fans were in place, and the arena was singing along to country favorites by Alabama and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band playing over the speakers.
The room fell dark. Nine of McEntire’s band members walked out and started playing. Clips from her most beloved music videos, including “Is There Life Out There,” “Fancy,” and “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” along with clips from famous award show performances and her Reba television series, played on the main screens.
Reba Turns on the Radio
Her band kicked off “Turn on the Radio,” and McEntire walked out in leather and denim dripping in turquoise and wearing a belt buckle large enough to compete with the championship prizes. The singer doesn’t shy away from her 70 years of age, but she easily looks 20 years younger on the big screens as she entertains fans, working every angle on the stage, waving, smiling, and vocally gliding through her hits.
She told the audience the night’s show would run similarly to her other shows and then fell into a warm and engaging yet vivacious rhythm, weaving her sassy uptempos, including “Can’t Even Get the Blues No More,” “I’m Gonna Take That Mountain,” “Why Haven’t I Heard From You” and “I Want a Cowboy” with her career anthems “You Lie” and “Is There Life Out There.” She threw in her television show themes “I’m a Survivor” (from Reba) and “Happy’s Place” (from Happy’s Place) and a mashup of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” and the Surpreme’s “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”
Then McEntire shocked the crowd when she brought out Miranda Lambert and Lainey Wilson to sing their new single “Trailblazer,” which they debuted on the ACM Awards earlier this month. The song is a tribute to the pioneering women of country music who paved the way for future generations of women in the genre.
Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson Thrill Crowd
The audience roared when McEntire started talking about “Trailblazer.” When she said, “Wouldn’t it be great if they were here tonight?” the cheering got even louder. The room exploded with excitement when Wilson and Lambert walked out in cowboy hats. Wilson sings first, saying that Lambert was kerosene on her match. Lambert is next, singing, I’m lucky to have someone to lean on/ When the weeds get high/ A little Louisiana twang and some Oklahoma rain/ And a heart that just won’t lie
In front of the rodeo crowd in a moment that seemed tailor-made for the audience, McEntire crooned: Oh, I know a cowgirl when I see one/ And I’m sure proud to be one
The unexpected collaboration was a true highlight of the night. Little girls waved their pink, illuminated cowboy hats in the air and stood on their seats as the women supported each other through the song.
McEntire closed the night with her signature, “Fancy.” Fans jumped up and down in the dirt in front of the stage, pumping their fists in the air and singing along, while others lifted their arms as if they were at church.
While no minister was in the spotlight, Reba was an angel on stage, and the thousands of fans in attendance seemed to have a rip-roaring religious experience.
(Photo by Terry Wyatt/WireImage)
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