Her father’s belt buckle and her mother’s bracelet joined her on America’s biggest stage.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation
Reba McEntire had her late parents with her on stage as she performed the National Anthem ahead of Super Bowl LVIII earlier this month.

A few days before a moving rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that brought Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones to tears, Reba revealed that she would be incorporating two very personal touches into her outfit: her father’s belt buckle and her mother’s bracelet.

“I am wearing my daddy’s 1971… ’61 championship belt buckle and my mama’s bracelet that she was presented with right before daddy died,” Reba said during a February 9 appearance on the Drew Barrymore Show. “So I’m wearing those two items at the Super Bowl.”

The country star is the third of four children born to Clark and Jacqueline McEntire. Her father, a champion steer roper, died in 2014 at the age of 86. Jacqueline, a schoolteacher who always dreamt of being a singer, died in 2020 at the age of 93. She was the inspiration behind Reba’s 2023 song, “7 Minutes in Heaven.”

In a May 2023 interview with ET Canada, Reba revealed that she considered leaving the music industry entirely after the death of her mother. She recalled being back at the family home “straightening everything out and cleaning it out and separating things” with her sister Susie when she had a revelation.

 

Reba told ET that felt like she had lost her drive for a music career. “I told Susie that I don’t have a want to, because mama was my want to,” she said in the interview. “I did the recording contract. Mama was living her dreams through me. So when she left, I was like, ‘Why am I doing this?’”

Fortunately, it turned out to be just a passing thought.

“I realized I’m still doing it because I love it. And it’s my God given gift that I cherish,” Reba explained. “I absolutely love to get to sing songs to make people feel something, whether it’s sad, happy, whatever it is. And so that’s the gift she gave me and Susie and [my brother] Pake. And so you got to keep on going.”