Reba McEntire’s father has defied the odds and awoken from a coma after suffering a stroke.
The country star was forced to skip the announcement of her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in March after her dad Clark fell ill – and she rushed to be at his bedside in Oklahoma.

She was told by doctors to prepare for the worst.

But now McEntire has told Cmt.com that her father has come out of his coma and is now recovering at a rehabilitation centre.

She says, “I’m not kidding, we had planned the funeral three times. We’ve selected songs, we’ve picked out where he’s going to be buried, and now he’s just done a complete turnaround.”

McEntire now hopes her dad will be well enough to join her in Nashville,Tennessee when she is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later this year.

She adds, “I’ll be telling him, ‘Get your butt out of this rehab centre, come on now let’s go to Nashville.’”

Source: Contact Music

Reba McEntire‘s 21-year-old son Shelby Blackstock drove the No. 51 at Daytona International Speedway on his debut as a professional race car driver this past January. The country superstar said then of her son, “We’re very proud and very thankful to God for keeping him safe. I’m very happy that he’s racing because that’s his passion,” and now she’s sharing his story.

Blackstock dropped out of the University of Arizona his freshman year to race professionally, a career that really started after a meal with a good friend of his parents. Reba tells The Boot, “We were going to put him into the ITT Technical school and let him work on cars and be a mechanic, and then on his last day of school, a good friend of ours, Pat Manley, said, ‘I’ve got a friend [Jim Click]. I want you to go to brunch with me.’”

That brunch date turned out to be an invitation to New York to work on Click’s pit crew. Last weekend, he was at the helm of a Click race car at a Grand Am race. Reba exclaims, “He went from 18 to third before he handed it over to Michael McGovern, who was the second and more professional driver of the team. Who would have thought it? If it wasn’t for Pat Manley and Jim Click, Shelby probably would never have realized his dream.”

Reba and her husband Narvel Blackstock go to every race they can. “That first time when that green flag drops, my stomach goes right to my throat, and then it goes back down and then I’m OK, but, boy, that roar is tremendous,” Reba admits.

Reba says that ever since he was little, all her son Shelby would ever talk about was cars. When the country star realized her boy was not happy at college, she asked him what would truly make him happy, and he replied, ‘Racing, mom, I want to race cars.’”

Racing is really the same family type of experience as her past profession in the rodeo, and as Reba says, “It’s all like a family. I feel so grateful that he is so blessed to be in such a wonderful family again, but now in the racing business. So I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Blackstock knows what it means to have his family give him the thumbs up: “Me, personally, I don’t think I’m fully as ready as I need to be because I’m still learning the track and still learning the car. Little by little, I want to make this into a career. [My parents are] supportive, and they understand this is what I want to do.” If he’s as good as a driver as his mother is as a singer, he cannot be anything but a winner!

Source: Taste of Country

Reba McEntire’s 84-year old father, Clark, is recovering from the stroke that he suffered a few weeks ago, according to his daughter and Reba’s younger sister, Susie McEntire-Eaton.

“Our prayers are really being answered,” she tells Taste of Country. “Daddy is holding his own right now. He is resting and doesn’t seem to hurt. We are giving him lots of updates about what is going on with each of us and loading him up with lots of hugs and kisses.”

Reportedly, Clark can sit up in his bed now, which he was unable to do even days ago. In addition, there is no paralysis.

“He’s got a lot of medical problems, diabetes and things like that, but his kidneys are looking good, his liver is looking good and he’s smiling at us,” Susie says. “We’re very grateful for that.”


As previously reported, Reba has thanked fans who have been praying for and sending well wishes to her father. “Please tell them how much I appreciate that and Mama does, too,” she said. “We couldn’t get by without them.”

Source: Country Weekly

Country stars will help celebrate the legacy of former president George H.W. Bush in promoting volunteerism and service among Americans.

The All Together Now: A Celebration of Service event will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. NBC will air the event at 8 p.m. March 28.

It will feature a bevy of stars including Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow and Darius Rucker.

“The true strength of America has always been, and always will be, our people, and today we can take heart that more Americans of all ages are rolling up their sleeves and joining this movement to serve others,” Bush said in a statement.

The event, sponsored by the Points of Light Institute, will be attended by all four former living presidents including Bush, his son George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. President Barack Obama, who will be out of the country, will deliver a message via video.

Source: RTT News

Reba McEntire has a message for fans that have been praying for and sending well wishes to her father, Clark McEntire, who suffered a stroke last week and is in a comatose state in a Tulsa, Okla., hospital. “Please tell them how much I appreciate that and Mama does too,” Reba tells Country Weekly. “We couldn’t get by without them.”

As previously reported, Reba was not present at the press conference held Tuesday (March 1) to announce that she is being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame along with Bobby Braddock and Jean Shepard. She and husband Narvel Blackstock were in Tulsa with her family.

Reba was able to tell her father that she’d be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame two days before he went into a coma. “I said, ‘Daddy, I’m going to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.’ He leaned forward and said, ‘what did you say?’ I said, ‘I’m being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame,’” Reba says.

“All the things that you get to do, the awards and accolades you receive, are sweet, but they’re so much sweeter when you share them with the people you love and the people who have supported you throughout your whole life and career. When I got my star in the Country Music Hall of Fame when it was over on Music Row, Mama and Daddy were there; first time I got to sing on the Grand Ole Opry, Mama and Daddy were there. They were there with me every step of the way.”

She realizes her father may not be with her when she’s inducted into the Hall of Fame. “Daddy might not be there, but he’ll be there in spirit,” says Reba. “Mama’s gonna be there. She already said, ‘Save me a seat, I’ll be there.’”

Reba received an e-mail from Hall of Famer Barbara Mandrell, who went through a similar situation when she was inducted. Her father, Irby Mandrell, was present at the press conference announcing her induction in 2009, but died before she was actually inducted. “She said, ‘I know what you’re going through,’” Reba says of the correspondence with Barbara, “and I said, ‘you better than anybody.’”

Source: Country Weekly

Reba McEntire, Jean Shepard and songwriter Bobby Braddock have been selected as the newest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Kix Brooks made the announcement during a Tuesday morning (March 1) press conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville. The three will be formally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame during a medallion ceremony later this year.

McEntire, elected in the modern era artist category, was unable to attend the press conference. She was in Tulsa, Okla., where her father is hospitalized.

McEntire, has sold more than 55 million albums worldwide, is the recipient of six CMA awards, 15 American Music awards, two Grammys and nine People’s Choice awards. In addition to her country music career, she has appeared in numerous films, including Tremors, North and One Night at McCool’s, and enjoyed a successful run on Broadway in 2001 in the starring role of Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun. She later starred in Reba, a TV sitcom that had a six-season run and remains popular in syndication.

In her absence, Brooks read a message from McEntire.

“I’m so appreciative of being selected as one of the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame. … It’s a wonderful honor during a very emotional time of my life. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be with all of you this morning to get to visit and reminisce about all the fun times we’ve had being a part of the country music business. My daddy has had a stroke, is in a comatose state in ICU in Tulsa. I really need to be with my mama and daddy right now. I know it’s where I should be. … By the way, I told Daddy about being inducted two days before he went into the coma. It’s a huge blessing knowing how important it was to him.”

DAYTONA BEACH — Shelby Blackstock is accustomed to bright lights, glitz and big crowds.

But wheeling the No. 51 Roush Performance Mustang GS around Daytona International Speedway on Thursday was a whole other world.

“I’ve always wanted to race here,” Blackstock said. “It wasn’t really shocking until I was going around Turn 4 and shifting into fifth gear and I was looking around and realized I was going 160 miles per hour and that I was passing my break-zone marker.

“It’s like a kid in a candy store. You get to drive the car you’ve been wanting to drive forever.”

For the 20-year-old Blackstock, this is a whole new experience.

He only started driving race cars five months ago to the day and it was only because he made a deal with his mom that he’s out here.

Blackstock, less than two years out of high school, attended the University of Arizona last year, but quickly realized it wasn’t his cup of tea. His interest was racing, so his mother told him if he finished the year he could try racing.

“It was kind of definitely a carrot dangling in front of me,” Blackstock said. “It worked out though. I did not like the University of Arizona too much. The school was good. College was fun. But Tucson I’m not a big fan of.”

Fast-forward five months and the son of Narvel Blackstock and Reba McEntire — yes, that Reba McEntire — will make his first Daytona start at 1:30 p.m. today in the Continental Tire Challenge Grand-Am 200.

Shelby, nicknamed Shelbilly because of his Tennessee roots, qualified his ride 24th for today’s 58-car, 150-minute race and will split time in the seat with Roly Falgueras.

Shelby will start the race and, yes, mom will be on hand to cheer him on.

“She asked if I was excited about going to Daytona and I said, ‘Oh yeah, I can’t wait to go 170,’ and her eyes — there was a really long pause and she just stared at me,” said Shelby with a grin.

Blackstock, a fan of road-course racing, has learned at the Bondurant and Skip Barber Racing Schools and made his first start last August in the Mustang Challenge at Miller Motorsports Park.

He finished last and second-to-last in his first two outings, but 45 days later he ran third and first, respectively.

Now, less than a half a year into it, he’s on one of racing’s biggest stages.

“It’s almost a dream come true so far,” Blackstock said. “It doesn’t really have the same flare of being around concerts and everything else I’ve done in my life, but it’s definitely a highlight.”

For Blackstock, there was never any time for racing.

He grew up in the country music haven of Nashville until age nine when he moved to New York City while his mother performed on Broadway for six months. At age 10, his mother’s television show, Reba, would move the family to Los Angeles, where they have resided since.

Nowadays, Blackstock splits his time between Los Angeles and Nashville competing in the Skip Barber Western, Southern and National Series, which only allows him five days to one week off per month.

“Me, personally, I don’t think I’m fully as ready as I need to be because I’m still learning the track and still learning the car,” Blackstock said. “Little by little, I want to make this into a career. (My parents are) supportive and they understand this is what I want to do.”

Source: news-journalonline.com

The Academy of Country Music and dick clark productions announced today that country superstars Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Jennifer Nettles, Reba and Carrie Underwood are the first artists scheduled to appear and be honored at the “Girls’ Night Out: Superstar Women of Country” taping on Monday, April 4, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The special will air at a later date on CBS.

“Girls’ Night Out: Superstar Women of Country” is a special tribute concert featuring an A-list lineup of performers paying respect to today’s most incredible country music female artists, all of whom will be honored with unique accolades from the Academy for special achievements in their careers. Additional honorees and participating talent announcements are forthcoming and ticket sales from the special will benefit ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy.

• Miranda Lambert – Will be recognized for being the only female artist in the Academy’s history to ever win Album of the Year, twice, first for “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” in 2007 and again for “Revolution” in 2009

• Martina McBride – Will be recognized by ACM Lifting Lives for her dedication to raising social consciousness through songs such as “Independence Day” and “Concrete Angel,” which raise awareness of domestic violence and encourage female empowerment; McBride has won Top Female Vocalist three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2003

• Jennifer Nettles – Will be recognized for being only one of two female artists in the Academy’s history to ever solo write and perform Song of the Year, in 2007, with “Stay”

• Reba – Will be recognized for winning Top Female Vocalist more times than any other artist in the Academy’s history – a whopping seven times

• Carrie Underwood – Will be recognized for being the only female artist in the Academy’s history to ever win Entertainer of the Year, twice, first in 2008 and again in 2009 (she is the reigning Entertainer of the Year, since Awards recognize the previous calendar year’s work)

Tickets for Girls’ Night Out: Superstar Women of Country are on sale NOW at Ticketmaster, priced at $200, $150, $100. Ticket proceeds will go to ACM Lifting Lives.