Reba McEntire, 69, reveals she was a real-life ‘cowgirl’ on her family’s ranch in Oklahoma before stardom.

Reba McEntire is a country music legend, but before she embarked on her singing career she worked on her family’s ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma.

‘I didn’t play cowgirl growing up, I was one,’ Reba, 69, explained, saying that everyone in her family was actively involved in the ranch’s operations.

‘My family lived on an 8,000-acre ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma, where my father ran several thousand cattle a year.

‘I began working on our ranch at age 5,’ the Fancy singer – who performed with Post Malone at the ACM Awards – recalled.

‘If Daddy needed a driver to move grain in his pickup truck, he came in and got whoever was there. ‘

Reba McEntire is a country music legend, but before she embarked on her singing career, she worked on her family’s ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma

Seen as a young woman on her family’s ranch

‘I’d be on my knees to work the steering wheel. He’d put the truck in granny gear, jump out and off I’d go,’ the Happy’s Place star told the Wall Street Journal.

Reba and her two sisters Alice and Susie and brother Pake lived in a small grey house with their parents Clark and Jackie.

There was only one bathroom, but the Turn on the Radio hitmaker said that wasn’t a problem.

‘With the girls – Alice, Susie, Mama and myself, we’d all be in there at the same time, and there never was a problem,’ The Voice judge shared.

‘We loved each other’s company,’ she added noting that their ranch was so remote there were no nearby kids to play with, so the siblings grew extraordinarily close.

In addition to being a cattle rancher, Reba’s dad also competed in rodeos and toured with the rodeo circuit from June to September, so running the ranch fell on the shoulders of herself and her siblings.

‘Daddy was gone rodeoing between June and September,’ she explained. ‘Running that big ranch while he was away fell to us kids.

‘We also had a hired hand, Louie Sandman, and Grandpap, John McEntire, who was a champion steer roper himself.’

On the set of one of her music videos

‘I didn’t play cowgirl growing up, I was one,’ Reba, 69, explained, saying that everyone in her family was actively involved in the ranch’s operations. Seen here on October 28, 2024

‘I began working on our ranch at age 5,’ the Fancy singer – who performed with Post Malone at the ACM Awards – recalled. ‘My family lived on an 8,000-acre ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma, where my father ran several thousand cattle a year’

 ‘If Daddy needed a driver to move grain in his pickup truck, he came in and got whoever was there’

Reba and her siblings got up very early to complete their chores on the ranch before going to school.

‘In my teens, in the fall, Pake and I would gather the horses in a 40-acre patch while Daddy fixed breakfast,’ McEntire recalled.

‘We’d get them saddled and head back to eat. After, we’d hop in the truck, load the horses into a trailer and take them to help steer the cattle into the area where they would be weighed and sold,’ she said.

‘Then we’d go to school with Mama. She was the school secretary.’

Her humble beginnings as a cowgirl are often reflected in her music, where themes of family, hard work, and personal strength are common. In many of her songs, she tells stories of small-town life, love, loss, and resilience—echoing the lessons learned on the ranch. “I’m very proud of my roots,” McEntire admits. “The ranch life taught me so much about life and the world. It made me appreciate the simple things, like family and hard work, which are at the heart of what I do.”

Despite all her success, McEntire has managed to keep a sense of humility. As one of the first women in country music to cross over into mainstream success, she blazed a trail for other female artists in the industry. But she credits much of her success to the values she learned growing up on that ranch.

Now, nearly five decades into her career, McEntire’s passion for music and ranch life remains unwavering. She’s a celebrated country music icon, but she still cherishes the quiet, peaceful moments back on her family’s ranch. “It’s the place where I can just be myself,” she says. “The ranch reminds me of who I am, where I came from, and what’s truly important in life.”

In a world where fame often changes people, Reba McEntire stands as a testament to staying true to one’s roots. Her journey from Oklahoma cowgirl to global superstar is an inspiring tale of grit, passion, and perseverance. For Reba, the heart of her music and success will always lie in the lessons she learned on the ranch—lessons that continue to shape her today.

Whether she’s on stage, in the studio, or back at the ranch, Reba McEntire is a shining example of how a cowgirl’s heart can fuel a superstar’s dreams.