"Singing was the only thing that got me good attention. Anything else might be bad attention or no attention at allwhich is horrible, because I'm a show dog. Mama taught all of us kids how to sing. We didn't have a radio in the car, so that's the way we passed the time, learning to sing three-part harmony on the road to the rodeo."
"I grew up on a working cattle ranch, eight thousand acres. Alice, Susie, and I were expected to do the work Pake, our brother, did. The only difference was when we got through with our chores, we had to go and do the women's chores, help Mama cook and clean up, while Pake got to watch TV. I'm a female; I know you gotta work harder."
"I knew I was funny when I told Mama a joke one time and she laughed. And I went, I want to do that again! But I had to wait, because I didn't want to push my luck. I mean, you work on a cattle ranch, it's not funif you're over here laughing and hee-hawing and then the cattle take off, you've lost half a day of work. It's not a good idea to be, as Daddy would call it, mess-assing around."
Reba McEntire attributes singing to receiving good attention and feared losing her gift if unused. She learned harmony and performance from family road trips to rodeos. She grew up working on an eight-thousand-acre cattle ranch alongside siblings, doing both outdoor and domestic chores, which reinforced a strong work ethic and the belief that women must work harder. She prefers being approachable and relatable rather than idolized. She discovered her comedic instincts early but adapted her behavior to ranch responsibilities. She admires younger performers' looseness and attributes it to parental encouragement and confidence.
Read at www.esquire.com
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