Author: Ms Bich

Reba McEntire Lives An Incredibly Lavish Life

Reba McEntire wearing a fur coatPerry Knotts/Getty Images

Born in 1955, Reba McEntire has a thriving career as a singer, actress, and book author. She also owns a restaurant called Reba’s Place, which offers live music and classic Southern dishes. Dubbed the “queen of country music,” she’s the voice behind “Only in My Mind,” “The Last One to Know,” “Till You Love Me,” and many other hits. “Music is so healing. It helped me express my pain and my confusion,” she told SUCCESS in 2012.

The “Tremors” actress has an estimated net worth of $95 million, so she’s no stranger to living in style. Her former mansion was 13,000 square feet and had seven bedrooms plus a swimming pool, a wine room, luxury stables, and other amenities. She decided to sell the property after parting ways with her ex-husband, Narvel Blackstock. However, that didn’t mean she planned on downsizing.

In 2020, McEntire was allegedly living in a lavish house in Nashville, Tennessee. That same year, the singer and her boyfriend, actor Rex Linn, were looking for a home in Malibu, California. Not surprisingly, McEntire also spends a lot on herself, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for beauty products and wellness treatments. But despite her incredibly lavish life, she remains down to earth. “Reba is Reba. Onstage and offstage, it’s always just me,” she told Parade. “I’m pretty much the Reba you see on the TV show.”

Reba McEntire owned several million-dollar properties

Reba/Instagram

The “Little Rock” singer owned several properties over the years, including a mansion in Beverly Hills, California. The main house alone was over 9,200 square feet, sitting on two acres of land with a tennis court, spa, pool, and breathtaking scenery. Reba McEntire and her then-husband, Narvel Blackstock, purchased the property in 2009.

Sadly, her divorce from Blackstock, who was also her manager, cost her a whopping $47.5 million. The “Malibu Country” star sold the house for $22.25 million in 2015, which was quite a good deal given that she bought it for $9 million. A year later, she decided to sell her colonial-style estate in Nashville, Tennessee. Its new owners turned it into an event venue called The Estate at Cherokee Dock.

The award-winning singer is still living in Nashville, but in a different home. “I wanted a space that is 100% authentically me,” she confessed to Cowboys and Indians. “Throughout the house, I have photos that I have taken on my trips to Africa, which are mixed with Western-inspired elements like rich leathers, dark woods, and steer heads,” she added. McEntire also goes above and beyond to be a good host for her guests. She’ll cook for them, spend time with them, and host game nights. “My main rule when anybody comes over is to feel at home, be completely relaxed, and have fun,” the “Buffalo Girls” star told Better Homes & Gardens.

The ‘Fancy’ singer allegedly spends over $100,000 per year on her looks

Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

Reba McEntire has gone through a stunning transformation over the decades, and some would say she is aging backward. The “Young Sheldon” actress allegedly spends over $100,000 per year on her looks, and her investment is paying off. Her skin is smooth and radiant, her body is toned, and she barely has any wrinkles.

“She owes it to weekly facials, body wraps, hot saunas, and other spa treatments,” an anonymous source told Radar Online. They added, “Reba buys the best cleansers and moisturizers and serums money can buy, including spending thousands a month on skincare products.” The country music singer says she doesn’t use Botox, but she’s open to plastic surgery. Her beauty routine includes sunscreen, nourishing creams, fish oil, and lots of water.

McEntire also has an active lifestyle that keeps her fit. She starts her day with bodyweight exercises and stretching and spends time rehearsing her dance moves for upcoming shows. “I feel 35, maybe 40,” the star told People shortly after her 64th birthday. We can only agree that whatever she’s doing to stay young is working.

Dolly Parton reveals truth about her very private 56-year marriage

Few photos exist of Dolly Parton’s husband, despite their 56-year marriage. Now, the country star reveals the truth about their relationship.

Dolly Parton is sharing the key to a successful marriage.

The country music icon got candid about her 56-year marriage to husband and Nashville, Tennessee, businessman Carl Thomas Dean.

“I like it when people say, ‘How did it last so long?’ I say, ‘I stay going,’” Parton said during an interview with ET Canada.

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Few photos exist of Dolly and Carl together, despite their 56-year marriage.

“You know, there’s a lot to be said about that. So, we’re not in each other’s face all the time. He’s not in the business, so we have different interests, but yet we have the things we love to do together. So it was meant to be, I think. He was the one I was supposed to have and vice versa.”

The early years: Dolly and Carl in Nashville, early in the 1970s.

The sweet couple has been married since 1966. Parton first met Dean when she was 18, and he was 21.

Like any relationship, they had a few highs and lows, however, the singer-songwriter revealed a good laugh keeps the spark alive.

Dolly never brings Carl to red carpet events. Picture: Theo Wargo/Getty

A rare sighting – Dolly surprised her husband for a recent birthday.

“We both have a warped sense of humour. And I think humour, honestly, is one of the best things when you’re married like that. Even if you have a problem, if you have a great sense of humour, if you say something you can’t take back [you] usually have some crazy way of getting out of it,” Parton noted, according to the media outlet.

The Jolene songstress admitted the pair rarely get into fights and try to keep the peace.

“We’ve never had, you know, serious arguments to say bad things to each other we have to take back,” she explained.

Parton shared this vintage pic of the couple (with a Dolly t-shirt Photoshopped onto Carl) on Instagram last year.

Parton added that her husband has always been supportive of her legendary career and teased that she prepared a special gift for him on her upcoming project.

“He loves all of the songs. And I haven’t told him yet who I’m going to have on. I don’t even know myself who all is going to be on it. But he’ll love it. I’m doing so many of his favourite songs on the album, so I’ll play it to him when it’s all done.”

Is this America’s coolest theme park? Why now’s the time to visit Dolly Parton’s Dollywood

The Queen of Country’s empire is rapidly expanding, offering twinkly new reasons to visit the picturesque Great Smoky Mountains of east Tennessee, finds Zoey Goto

Zoey Goto returns to her spiritual home: Dollywood

(Zoey Goto)

Topping up my plastic cowboy boot-shaped cup with yet another glug of sweet tea, the server is curious about my accent. “You’re from England?” he hazards a guess, raising an eyebrow. “That makes sense. We’re getting a lot more Brits coming to the Smokies. They mostly come for Dolly,” he concludes with a deep Southern twang, dropping a glistening rotisserie chicken onto my plate. All around, the arena jostles with 1,000 Parton fans squeezed thigh-to-thigh onto wooden benches, hungry for both the boot-stomping entertainment and the four-course barbecue feast currently being dished out.

I’m dining at Dolly Parton’s Stampede Dinner Attraction in Pigeon Forge, a Wild West extravaganza involving star-spangled cowgirls on horseback leaping fearlessly through blazing rings of fire, quirky comedy skits, glitzy stage numbers, and, slightly bizarrely, a nail-biting race between two miniature piglets wearing tiny colourful jackets – which just happens to coincide with the serving of the hickory smoked pork loin course.

This rootin’, tootin’ riot of a dinner attraction forms part of musician Parton’s “Dollyverse”, an extensive entertainment portfolio that encompasses themed supper shows and the family-focused Dollywood DreamMore Resort hotel complex, situated in the Great Smoky Mountains, around 30 miles from Knoxville. But the headline act around here is really Dollywood, Parton’s Appalachian-flavoured theme park that opened in 1986. Tucked into the foothills of the ancient mountainous landscape where the Tennessee Songbird was raised, near the gateway to the natural wonders of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Dollywood attracts a staggering three million visitors a year.

A little white chapel at Dollywood

(Robert F Thomas)

This year, that number looks set to rise further still, following the recent opening of Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort, a 302-room cabin-chic hotel that brings a touch of luxury to the Smokies. Within the Dollywood theme park itself, there’s also a bedazzlement of new attractions, including the unveiling of Big Bear Mountain, its longest rollercoaster. In May 2024, the Dolly Parton Experience, an interactive museum showcasing Parton’s razzle-dazzle life story, is also due to swing open its doors.

The following morning, I drive back through the kitschy holiday town delights of Pigeon Forge, where the roadside curiosities include a festive hotel that celebrates Christmas every single day of the year, a king-sized bust of Elvis etched in stone like a rock-and-roll version of Mount Rushmore and a museum that tells the story of the Titanic, housed within an enormous replica of the doomed ship.

Pulling into Dollywood, I open the car door to be greeted by the sweet smell of cinnamon bread rising in the ovens of the onsite Grist Mill bakery. Following the tantalising scent through Dollywood’s entrance gates, I pass a bearded banjo player serenading the excited visitors – many wearing Parton-appreciation t-shirts – with an impressive display of lightning-fast fingerpicking.

Grist Mill at Dollywood Park, Pigeon Forge

(State of Tennessee )

The beauty of Dollywood is that it’s much more than a theme park. Those interested in the local Appalachian culture can watch displays of bluegrass music, candle dipping and glassblowing. There’s an aviary boasting the largest exhibition of non-releasable bald eagles in America. Thrill-seekers can soar through the sky on wild coasters, while those who prefer life in the slow lane can hop on the quaint stream train that chugs leisurely through the leafy 160-acre park, whistle-a-blowing.

Parton references have also been sprinkled lavishly throughout Dollywood, I discover, as I step inside the replica of the Parton family’s childhood cabin; a dinky two-room affair that somehow snugly housed the budding singer, plus her 11 siblings and parents. Patchwork quilts are casually thrown over the many iron beds where the Parton’s slept like sardines. In the absence of storage space, blackened skillet pans are nailed to the walls, which are decorated with faded paisley wallpaper. Humble it may be, it was also the Tennessee mountain home where “life is as peaceful as a baby’s sigh”, as Parton famously sang in one of her many love-letter odes to her birthplace.

Candle dipping at Dollywood

(Zoey Goto)

From rags to rhinestones, I climb onboard Parton’s retired tour bus on the other side of the park. Tucked away at the back of the coach is the singer’s bedroom; a prism of spotlights and mirrors worthy of the most flamboyant of superstars. Walking on through Dollywood, I catch a revealing glimpse of Parton’s spiritual side, with the addition of a white clapperboard church. Passing by, I catch the glorious sound of a gospel choir uniting in harmony, offering some calm before the storm as I head towards the snaking queue to brave the Big Bear Mountain coaster. Strapping in, this family-friendly ride takes me from a standstill to 48mph in a flash, maintaining that top speed for almost two minutes of outrageous fun, as we weave through cascading waterfalls to the soundtrack of a growling bear.

Big Bear Mountain rollercoaster at Dollywood

(Zoey Goto)

Back on solid ground, I bid farewell to the theme park as a drone show lights up the evening sky and check in at Dollywood’s latest hotel offering, the HeartSong Lodge & Resort. In the earthy-toned lobby, images of Appalachian wildlife, including the black bears that are frequently spotted in the Smokies, are dotted throughout. Under the watchful gaze of a larger-than-life portrait of Parton, I take a seat by the soaring windows that frame views of the misty woodland outside, hawks circling overhead.

Having held the international spotlight for over five decades, it’s fair to say that Parton has travelled the globe more than most. Yet, like a homing pigeon, it’s the Great Smoky Mountains that keep calling her back; a place that Parton credits as one of the most beautiful in the world. From where I’m sitting, it’s easy to see why.

Travel essentials
How to get there

America As You Like It offers a seven-night holiday to Tennessee from £1,729 per person, based on two sharing and including return flights from Heathrow to Knoxville on American Airlines, seven days car hire, three nights at Dollywood’s Heartsong Lodge and four nights at the DreamMore Lodge and Resort.

Where to stay

Families will love these luxury treehouses, complete with an inbuilt slide and a chute to send drinks from the kitchen to the lower deck.

Shuttles running every 20 minutes to the theme park, make this the ideal stay for visiting Dollywood.

Dolly Parton’s Nashville home with husband Carl is not what you’d expect

Dolly and Carl have lived in the same house since 1999

Dolly Parton is one of the most recognizable country icons – but it’s only recently that her home has reflected her colorful personality.

The 9-5 singer is reportedly worth an impressive $350 million, but she hasn’t used her wealth to splurge on a new property. Dolly still lives in the same house in Brentwood, Nashville, that she purchased in 1999 for $400,000. She shares it with her husband, Carl Dean, and while she may have bought it for a reasonable fee, it’s not lacking when it comes to luxe amenities.

The property features its own tennis court, swimming pool, chapel, and farm, according to the Kiwi Report. During the pandemic, Dolly unveiled more of the inside than ever before, and it’s surprisingly lowkey for such a characterful country singer…

Dolly Parton’s kitchen

© Photo: Instagram

Dolly’s kitchen appears to be the most colorful room in the house and has had an upgrade since she last gave fans a glimpse inside.

The 9 to 5 singer added some festive touches over the holiday season, including red wreaths, red and white gingham curtains, and several red accessories. The space is filled with modern appliances alongside white cupboards, which have remained to this day.

© Photo: Instagram

Before Christmas, Dolly had a different color scheme in her kitchen, which included plenty of pinks from her artwork to her cooking utensils.

Dolly previously invited Reese Witherspoon into her home back in 2018 to film the first episode of Reese’s YouTube series, Shine On.

© YouTube

They filmed from the kitchen which had a lot less color back then. The room is fitted with white wooden cupboards and a brown central island with white marble worktops. Dolly’s appliances are silver, including two dishwashers, a double fridge, and a double oven.

Dolly Parton’s living room

© Photo: Instagram

Dolly gave fans a glimpse inside another living room inside her home, which she also gave a festive makeover, with purple and white Christmas trees surrounding a cream armchair.

The white paneled walls also feature new artwork, and Dolly added some candles to a white, wooden coffee table.

© Photo: Instagram

Another living room features a cream leather armchair and a small mirrored side table holding a bubble lamp and a butterfly ornament.

© Photo: Instagram

A video filmed from a different angle in the room showed that other furniture includes a brown sofa with burgundy and brown patterned cushions and a floral burgundy rug.

Dolly Parton’s music room

© Photo: Instagram

Dolly has her very own music room, complete with a black piano. It’s decorated with cream walls and patterned green carpet, as well as ruched floral blinds.

© Photo: Instagram

Although unclear whether it’s in the same room, Dolly also has an enormous collection of awards from her career in one room, complete with a large painting honoring her achievement of selling 100 million records worldwide. In keeping with the vintage theme of the home, it features patterned wallpaper and wooden furniture.

Dolly Parton’s hallway

© Photo: Instagram

Dolly’s hallway is painted light yellow and has a wooden stair banister. She has also added a retro wooden side dresser on one side, and a glass candle lantern in the corner. Add the following script only if it’s not already included in your site

Dolly Parton Leaves The Most Epic Comment On Kim Kardashian’s New Bikini Photo

We think it’s safe to say that Dolly Parton likes to keep up with the Kardashians. She proved that with a witty comment she wrote on Kim’s new photo on July 16.

Kim Kardashian, 40, can honestly say Dolly Parton, 75, is a fan of hers. That was proven on July 16, when Kim took to Instagram to share a hot new bikini photo, and the singer commented.

Alongside a shot of the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star catching rays on the front end of a boat, Kim quoted the iconic singer in her caption when she wrote, “Don’t get too busy making a living that you forget to work on making a life- Dolly Parton. Friendly reminder to always take a little time for yourself”.

Cute, right? Well, Dolly seemed to think so, too, because she reacted with a comment of her own and said, “You’re doing great sweetie”, followed by a heart emoji. Fans immediately went wild and couldn’t believe Dolly was quoting Kim’s mom, Kris Jenner.

Anyone who’s been following Keeping Up With the Kardashians over the years, knows that Kris once famously egged her daughter on by saying, “You’re doing amazing, sweetie!” in a 2007 episode of the series. Obviously, Dolly didn’t get the quote exactly right word-for-word, but she must have watched the show at some point during its 20 seasons on the air. Or she at least saw the meme that was created by Kris’ now famous saying.

Dolly Parton & Kim Kardashian (Shutterstock/SplashNews)

“So perfect!,” one commenter wrote in reaction to Dolly’s sentiment, while another said, “Genius!” One commenter even called Dolly “iconic”, which is true — she is. But overall, everyone that saw the comment seemed to feel the same way… that it was “LEGENDARY!!!!”

Everything We Know About Dolly Parton And Billy Ray Cyrus’ Relationship

Billy Ray Cyrus and Dolly Parton are both influential country music stars but you may not know just how close they really are.

Dolly Parton has made a huge impact on the country music scene for decades now. She’s released dozens upon dozens of albums over the years, paving the way for a successful career for herself, but also for country music artists everywhere. Dolly has helped launch the careers of many artists, and influenced many others, especially Billy Ray Cyrus.

We know Billy Ray Cyrus as the father of none other than Miley Cyrus, but he’s also so much more than that. Billy Ray is famous in his own right, as he’s a successful country star too. He’s released over a dozen albums since the early 1990s, and is most known for his hit song “Achy Breaky Heart.”

Over the years, the two musicians have developed quite a close relationship, so much so that dating rumors ensued. When those rumors were crushed, people started to think that they might actually be blood-related, as they’re so involved in each other’s lives — Dolly is even Miley’s godmother! The two are so close, we can’t help but love them.

Here’s everything we know about Dolly Parton and Billy Ray Cyrus.

13 They’re Not Actually Blood-Related

Dolly Parton and Billy Ray Cyrus have such a close relationship that people can’t help but think that the two are related. Contrary to popular belief, the two aren’t blood-related at all. They’ve just been friends for years, and are so close that they’ve become family, regardless of the lack of blood relation.

12 They Toured Together

Their relationship really began as a working relationship before anything else. After Billy Ray released his single “Achy Breaky Heart,” the song did really well. With all of the success of the song, he had the opportunity to go on tour together, where Billy Ray opened up for Dolly.

11 There Were A Lot Of Romance Rumors

Of course, in Hollywood, when two celebrities get close, rumors start to swirl as to whether or not they’re more than friends. Once the two got closer, romance rumors between Billy Ray and Dolly started to heat up. The two made headlines, especially when they were touring with one another.

10 Dolly Wasn’t Bothered By Them

When the rumors started to really take off about Billy Ray and Dolly being romantically linked, Billy Ray started to really worry about them and wondered what Dolly would think about the situation.

Related: Dolly Parton Secretly Produced Buffy! Plus, Her Next Obsession…

Dolly, on the other hand, thought that the rumors were funny, and claimed that rumors like those sold records, and not to worry.

9 They Released A Single Together

Feeding into that rumor, Dolly and Billy Ray decided to make some music together. In 1993, Dolly released a single that featured Billy Ray called “Romeo.” With the romantically suggestive title, there’s no wonder why people were talking. The single did really well and rose up the music charts.

8 Billy Ray’s Debut Did Well Thanks To Dolly

With all of the talk between the two, and the fact that Billy Ray had the opportunity to go out on tour with Dolly, all press was good press in this case. When Billy Ray released his debut album, Some Gave It All in 1992, the album went number one and stayed number one for 17 weeks in a row. He can definitely thank Dolly for that!

7 She Wrote Him A Letter That Led Them To Be Friends

When Billy Ray first started off opening up for Dolly on tour, the two weren’t really as close yet.

Related: What Does Dolly Parton And Buffy The Vampire Slayer Have In Common?

Billy Ray explained that Dolly had sent a letter to his dressing room to sort of break the ice between the two, and from then on they closely bonded and their relationship became closer than ever.

6 They Co-Wrote A Song

By having such a close relationship both working and non-working, Dolly and Billy Ray always jumped at the chance to be able to work together. As a result, Dolly and Billy ray decided to team up yet again, where the two co-wrote the duet called “The Right Time.”

5 Billy Ray Learned A Lot From Her Work Ethic

One thing that Billy Ray Cyrus has admitted to really admiring about Dolly is her work ethic — it’s something that he’s noticed about her since they first met. When they worked together, Dolly went to his studio, brought him some food, ate a little, and hung around before the two got straight to work.

4 Billy Ray Joined Dolly For The 25th Anniversary Of Dollywood

Dolly has her very own theme park named after her called Dollywood. When the park celebrated its 25th anniversary with a huge concert with some of Dolly’s famous friends.

Related: Miley Cyrus Performs ‘Old Town Road’ With Dad Billy Ray Cyrus And Boyfriend Cody Simpson

Both Billy Ray and Miley attended, and both performed with Dolly. Billy Ray and Dolly sang their hit collaboration “Romeo” where Miley joined Dolly for “Jolene.”

3 Dolly Is Miley’s Godmother

By now we know that Billy Ray and Dolly have such a close relationship, so much so that their families have slowly become intertwined. When Billy Ray had his daughter Miley, he decided that he wanted Dolly to be Miley’s Godmother. As a result, Miley and Dolly have their own very close relationship.

2 Dolly Appeared On Hannah Montana

As Miley got older and she landed her show Hannah Montana she combined her real life family with her fictional one. Dolly appeared on the show as Miley’s Aunt Dolly, where the two got into some hijinks on a few episodes. Dolly appeared on the episodes “Good Golly Miss Dolly” in 2006, “I Will Always Loathe You” in 2007 and “Kiss it all Goodbye” in 2010.

1 They’re So Close People Can’t Help But Think They’re Family

Over the years we’ve come to associate Dolly and Billy Ray together, and even more so when Billy Ray’s daughter Miley was born. We can’t help but love their relationship, and just how close they are to one another. There’s no reason why people think that they’re actually family, they might as well be!

Next: Billy Ray Cyrus Confirmed A Hannah Montana Spinoff: 15 Things We Need To See

The Truth About Dolly Parton’s Husband, Carl Thomas Dean

Dean has never done a public interview, but it seems like his Southern roots and Parton’s gypsy soul prefer it that way.

Dolly Parton tends to keep her private life exactly that; private. Her husband Carl Thomas Dean is the same way and avoids the limelight, although his wife can’t escape it. His comfort with remaining under the radar is so pristine that people have even stirred up cruel rumors that he doesn’t exist. He’s a real person, and their marriage involves an authentic kind of love.

Wedding Bells

Parton told the Knoxville News Sentinel about her bond with Dean back in 2011, “I’ve been married for 44 years, been with him for 46 years…My husband’s a homebody, and I love to travel so, we don’t have children, he loves his space. We just have a complete understanding. We enjoy each other when we are together.”

“We know we can trust each other,” she shared, “I know I’m always going home. He knows I’m always coming home…We’re good friends. We love and respect each other. We’re friends and we’re married.”

Related: Dolly Parton Is The Guardian Angel Everyone Needs This Holiday Season In Netflix Flick

The two lovers and friends have celebrated over 50 years of marriage, and understand the importance of maintaining independence within a healthy relationship. According to Theme Fam, the two first laid eyes on each other at a laundromat and spent their first date eating McDonald’s, honest beginnings that they have since cherished.

Parton mentioned in an interview with Good Morning Britain that Dean has only watched her perform in casual settings, “Usually if I’m playing at state fairs he loves to go to the fair and go to the tractor pull. Sometimes he’ll ramble around and kind of hear me sing. He’s not necessarily one of my biggest fans.”

Marriage Advice From Dolly Herself

While Dolly and Carl’s approach to marriage may not be everyone’s preferred route, plenty of her fans find serenity in her marital advice. She said in an interview with Good Morning America, “We’re both funny. We both have a great and warm sense of humor…I think there’s a lot to be said about sensible separation.”

Related: Everything We Know About Dolly Parton And Billy Ray Cyrus’ Relationship

“You can’t be with someone 24/7, 365, and not want to smack their face now and then, ” she bluntly noted. While the country icon might be outspoken and never afraid to stand up for what she believes in, she and Dean don’t do intense confrontation in their marriage.

“My husband and I have never fought. We’ve never bickered back and forth because I never wanted us to say bad things we would have to remember. We get a little pissy now and then but we’ll just walk off or go do something else and kind of let that die down.”

Dean has never done a public interview, but it seems like his Southern roots and Parton’s gypsy soul prefer it that way.

Next: Dolly Parton Amassed A $500 Million Net Worth, And Here’s How She Did It

Reba McEntire Sparks Plastic Surgery Rumors — Did She Go Under the Knife?

Source: Getty Images

In 2018, Reba McEntire hosted the ACM Awards, the CMA Country Christmas Special, and was a Kennedy Center honoree (alongside Cher and Lin-Manuel Miranda).

Despite her continued success after four decades in the entertainment industry, some fans are most focused on the 68-year-old country star’s rumored plastic surgery.

So, did Reba have plastic surgery?
According to outspoken fans on social media, the answer seems obvious. “Reba has had so much plastic surgery I am surprised she can still move her face to sing! She looks way younger than she did 30 years ago,” one critic tweeted before another rudely added, “Reba used to be awesome before she had enough plastic surgery to look a facial double for the joker.”

A third chimed in, “Reba is literally the poster child of plastic surgery. I haven’t seen her expression change once.” Ouch.

Source: Getty Images. Reba in 2008 vs. 2018.

However, Reba has spoken out about going under the knife in the past and denied the rumors. “I don’t do Botox,” she told OK! magazine in 2009. “I just don’t do it. Everybody else can, it’s fine with me. I don’t. It’s botulism, so I didn’t want to put that in my body. I think plastic surgery’s great if that’s what you want to do.”

Instead, she credits her youthful appearance to Pilates and walking for 30 to 60 minutes every day, among other things.

“I take my makeup off every night, cleanse my face,” she added. “I wash my face in the morning … and moisturize very well. I always use a sunscreen on my face. And use product and makeup and things that let my face breathe as much as possible. I get facials as regularly as I can, and drink lots of water. And I do take fish oils. I wear one contact. I do mono-vision, and the fish oil and EPA, helps my eyes retain their moisture so my contacts don’t get dry.”

Despite Reba’s denial, she has been accused of undergoing a facelift, breast augmentation, and rhinoplasty by plastic surgery “experts” on the internet (who have not treated the popular singer).

Source: Instagram

Luckily, Reba is not letting the haters slow her down — and she’s focusing on her 2019 Las Vegas residency with her fellow country music stars Brooks & Dunn. As for her ability to seemingly stop aging, she shared one last secret.

“You gotta be happy with yourself. Love yourself. Love your body. Surround yourself with positive people,” she told WebMD. “Willie Nelson once said, ‘If there’s one rotten apple in the bucket, everything will go rotten.’ If you stay around negative people, you’re gonna become negative. I like to stay around positive, loving people.”

And she still has some supporters who love her with or without plastic surgery. “Please @reba tell us how you have managed to stop aging… plastic surgery, fillers, miracle cream, witch doctors? We need details!!!” one fan asked. Another added, “So many people judging Reba because she looks amazing. ‘Botox, plastic surgery, able to afford a trainer.’ Y’all a bunch of haters. Reba looks amazing.”

Preach.

 

How a satire site gave birth to a fake Reba McEntire-Taylor Swift feud that crossed the internet

Christopher Blair, a self-proclaimed professional troll, said the fact that a satire article he wrote ended up drawing attention underscored problems with how people consume news.

At first blush, a headline Reba McEntire posted to her Instagram account looked like a salacious tidbit from a gossip magazine.

The headline claimed that McEntire, who performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl last month, called Taylor Swift an “entitled brat” for “laughing and drinking” during the performance. After McEntire called out the headline to her 2.6 million Instagram followers and praised Swift, several news outlets published stories saying McEntire had used her post to quash so-called rumors of a feud.

In her post, McEntire offered some good advice: “Please don’t believe everything you see on the Internet.”

The headline was from a satire account on Facebook created by self-proclaimed professional troll Christopher Blair.

He said she took it too seriously.

“I have to believe it was just a knee-jerk reaction or something. She figured it was horrible, and she reacted,” Blair said of McEntire’s post. “On today’s internet, you have to be better than that.”

A representative for McEntire declined to comment.

Blair runs some of the most successful satire pages on the internet meant to target conservatives who don’t bother to click beyond his fictional and farcical headlines. His main Facebook account, America’s Last Line of Defense, is part of a network of parody accounts including the one called America Loves Liberty, on which he published the McEntire article.

Those pages link back to his satire news website, The Dunning-Kruger Times, which hosts all manner of fake, newsy articles, almost all of them under the byline “Flagg Eagleton — Patriot.” On his pages, accounts and website, Blair cautions readers that “nothing on this page is real.”

Although some might find Blair’s methods questionable, he stays within the bounds of Facebook’s rules by disclosing at the top of the page that nothing he writes is real — though that does little to dissuade many people from taking his articles seriously.

The pages and McEntire’s post offer a sense of the ongoing issues with social media, misinformation and disinformation. Many experts have continued warning about the ease with which fake news spreads online — especially in the lead-up to the presidential election.

Although Blair’s posts tend to be generally benign fodder for quick-fingered Facebook users to share, they show how easily some people can fall for disinformation.

Meanwhile, Meta has in recent years turned Facebook and its powerful recommendation system away from mainstream news outlets.

Blair calls his satire pages a “social experiment,” one he uses for a very particular purpose: to trick conservatives, particularly “geriatric Trumpsters,” as he calls them, who are too eager to dunk on the left.

“The ultimate goal of the operation is truth, believe it or not,” he said. “The people who tend to believe these stories are on the right, and the more the story confirms their bias, the less they need to prove that it’s true.”

But Blair said his goal isn’t necessarily just to make a statement about mis- and disinformation.

“The goal is it’s a liberal troll honey pot that’s a lot of fun, that makes a bunch of money,” he said with a laugh. “I try to be as obvious as possible about it so that people like Reba McEntire, when they come across something like this, they say, ‘Jesus Christ who said that about me?’ and they click and they say, ‘Oh, these idiots.’”

Blair, a lifelong Democrat who created his page in January 2016, said people’s eagerness to share his content without fact-checking has made him wildly successful. He said engagement remains high — his most recent Facebook post, which jokingly claimed singer Garth Brooks “looked tired, depressed, and at least 40 or 50 pounds overweight” during a recent performance, got nearly 800 comments in 18 hours. He said his page at one point could bring in $15,000 in a good month.

The issue of people taking misinformation at face value is now well-recognized. A 2021 study conducted by a group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Regina in Canada, University of Exeter Business School in the United Kingdom and the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics in Mexico found that 51.2% of participants in an experiment shared misinformation online because they weren’t paying attention to accuracy — not because they couldn’t tell the difference between real and fake news.

“People are often capable of distinguishing between true and false news content, but fail to even consider whether content is accurate before they share it on social media,” study co-author Gordon Pennycook, an assistant professor of behavioral science at the University of Regina, told Nieman Lab in 2021.

Blair said he was surprised not only by McEntire’s response to the story but also by how many news outlets ran stories about McEntire’s squashing rumors of a feud with Swift without disclosing that she was responding to a parody headline.

“If everybody who read one of my headlines, who appears on my page, complained about it and told their fans that it wasn’t true, you would never hear about anything but me,” Blair said. “I’d be in the news nonstop.”

Reba’s 1991 ‘For My Broken Heart’ Album Is Full Of Timeless, Sad Songs Inspired By Immense Personal Tragedy

There’s nothing that hits harder than a beautifully sad, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching classic country song.

And Reba McEntire’s seventeenth studio album For My Broken Heart is a masterpiece of an album that’s full of heartbreaking tunes that’s are as relevant and timeless now as they were upon release in 1991, over 30 years ago now.

The album was Reba’s first project recorded and released after the tragic airplane crash that killed most of the members of her touring band, as well as her tour manager, Jim Hammon. In addition to Jim, her keyboardist and bandleader Kirk Cappello, fellow keyboardist Joey Cigainero, drummer Tony Saputo, guitarists Michael Thomas and Chris Austin, bassist Terry Jackson and backup singer Paula Kaye Evans, as well as the two pilots, Donald Holmes and Christopher Hollinger, were all killed that day.

In the liner notes for the record, Reba wrote that the project was “a form of healing for all our broken hearts” following that unspeakable tragedy, so it makes sense as to why they’re all so sad.

In fact, during the recording process, session bass player Leland Sklar asked Reba if they were going to do any happy songs… but that just wasn’t where she was at that time, she recalled in an interview with Vinyl Me, Please:

“‘For My Broken Heart’ came to me right after the plane crash. Instead of it being a couple’s separation or a breakup, to me that song was, that world didn’t stop for my broken heart because I lost so many loved ones in the plane crash.

The loss of my band and tour manager got channeled into this album with every song, every lyric. Leland Sklar was the bass player in that session and he came in after about the fourth song that we recorded and he said, ‘Reba, are we gonna do any happy songs?’

And I looked up and I said, ‘Leland, not on this one.’ And he said, ‘I understand.’”

The tracklist of course included #1 hits like the title track, “Is There Life Out There” and “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” which was originally recorded by Vicki Lawrence in 1972.

For My Broken Heart became Reba’s highest-charting album on the Billboard 200 chart at that time (it peaked at #13), and is still one of her best selling albums after moving four million copies. Impressively, it also became the first album by a female country artist to be certified 2× platinum by the RIAA.

And if you’re as much of a vinyl lover and collector as I am, Vinyl Me, Please has an absolutely gorgeous pink pressing of For My Broken Heart that you can check it out here… of course, I am completely obsessed with the color and need to get my hands on it ASAP.

You can also watch Reba’s full interview with them surrounding the 30th anniversary of the album a couple years ago below.

Going to turn these up and have a good cry today…

“The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia”

“For My Broken Heart”