Super Bowl national anthem singer Reba McEntire, explained

Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC via Getty Images

Reba McEntire is a legend.

The NFL has settled into a comfortable tradition when it comes to the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. For the fourth year in a row we’ll have a country musician sing the “Star Spangled Banner,” with legend Reba McEntire doing the honors in 2024.

With a career spanning almost 50 years, McEntire is one of the best-known country musicians on the planet, and not always directly because of her music. Today she’s perhaps best known as a coach on NBC’s The Voice, as well as her six year sitcom Reba, which aired on The CW from 2001-2007.

Beginning her music career in 1975, and releasing her first album in 1976, it wasn’t until the 1980s that McEntire when from being known in the country music scene, to a true superstar. Three of McEntire’s albums in 1980, 81 and 82 respectively had Top 10 single hits, with 1982’s Unlimited giving Reba her first No. 1 with “Can’t Even Get the Blues,” which was quickly followed by another top single in “You’re the First Time I’ve Thought About Leaving.”

A prolific songwriter and performer, McEntire has released albums at a pace matched by very few artists. From 1976-2023 she has released 33 full-length studio albums, and an additional 126 singles over the same span. Dubbed “The Queen of Country,” she has had a career in the genre matched only by the likes of Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson.

My favorite Reba song? Well, that has to be “Fancy.”

At the Super Bowl she will be joined by by actor Daniel Durant, who will be translating the anthem into American Sign Language. Durant starred in the 2021 best picture CODA, and more recently appeared on Dancing with the Stars.