'It's my heritage': Reba McEntire returns to Oklahoma to receive lifetime achievement award

"How much do I love Oklahoma? A lot," Reba McEntire declared with a chuckle Saturday afternoon.

Accompanied by her boyfriend, actor and fellow Oklahoman Rex Linn, the multitalented Country Music Hall of Famer was back in her home state Saturday for the 63rd annual Western Heritage Awards at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

"It's a family reunion of friends. We've had the best time since we landed here Wednesday. Got to see my family; Rex and I got to visit with his family and then with friends. ... So, I come back to Oklahoma City and know that it's going to be a fun time," Reba told The Oklahoman in an interview behind the scenes at the National Cowboy Museum.

The OKC institution has been an important part of Reba's life since back in the days when it was still called the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. McEntire, who turned 69 in March, received the Lifetime Achievement Award Saturday night at the Western Heritage Awards.

"Getting any award from this organization means an awful lot because it is everything about my heritage, my love of the Western way of life. This is the way I dress normally; I don't just dress like this because I'm here for this event. I do this all the time, because I love that way of life," said Reba, who donned jeans, boots, a T-shirt emblazoned with a cowgirl on a rearing horse and a tan fringed pullover for her Saturday afternoon outing to the museum.

"I always wanted to be a cowgirl. I loved portraying Annie Oakley when I got to do that on Broadway. ... It's my passion. It's my love. It's my heart."

Reba McEntire tells Rex Linn 'thank God for you' during Western Heritage Awards panel

Ahead of the Western Heritage Awards, Reba chatted with The Oklahoman about her coaching duties on "The Voice," the pilot for what she hopes will be her new sitcom, the success of her Reba's Place restaurant in Atoka and her romance with Linn, a fellow regular attendee at the Western Heritage Awards.

The music icon, who grew up on a ranch near Chockie, confirmed that her romantic interest in the actor, who grew up in OKC, was kindled at the 2019 Western Heritage Awards, which Linn emceed and Reba attended with her family as her father, Clark McEntire, was posthumously ushered into the Hall of Great Westerners.

"We all went to dinner together (that) Friday night, and I saw him. We had worked together in '91 and then stayed in communication, but not as good communication until we saw each other here," recalled Reba, who first met Linn when they co-starred in the 1991 Kenny Rogers TV movie "The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw."

"He played one of my songs during the ceremony, and I thought, 'That's pretty cool.' And then it was the next year, January, that we started dating."

Ahead of Saturday night's ceremony, Linn moderated a panel discussion with his sweetheart, whom he referred to as "Tater Tot McEntire," and Oscar winner Keith Carradine, who was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers during the awards show.

"Across your career, you've met kings and queens, presidents and every sort of celebrity in every profession just about. You've been in contact with so many people around the world and touched so many lives. Did all this help prepare you for the rocket ship that you are on now with dating and being involved romantically with a worldwide sex symbol?" Linn teasingly asked her, cracking up the estimated 300 attendees who packed the museum's lobby for the panel.

"What?" she responded playfully, before hugging and kissing Linn. "Nothing has prepared me for you. You were dropped into my life, I was dropped into your life, at the greatest point. ... God's timing is always the best, and thank God for you."

During the panel, the couple shared their experiences this year at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, where Reba sang the national anthem. She shared how Linn eagerly accepted on her behalf when she was offered the high-profile gig, despite her misgivings about how the dry Vegas climate would affect her voice.

"We woke up Sunday morning, and thank the good Lord, the clouds all around Vegas were ... black. They were full of water, and I knew there was going to be enough moisture for me never to lose my voice because of the dryness. It was just like, 'Hey, we're gonna go have fun' — and we did. We had a blast," Reba said.

"When I got back home to Nashville, I went to the grocery store, I couldn't get past the produce section. Usually, I just walk around and get all my groceries, but it was 'Uh-huh, yeah, we'll take a picture. We'll take a picture.' But isn't that amazing what television and the Super Bowl will do for a career? Been in the business 48, 49 years, and then that's a turning point right there. Simply amazing. I was flabbergasted."

An estimated 123.7 million viewers watched CBS's broadcast of Super Bowl 58, making it the largest audience for a single-network telecast to date, according to USA Today.

"There was a unity in that stadium. I could feel it. Boy, when you start singing the national anthem, everybody stands up and puts their hand over their heart. It just brings everybody together, no matter what your opinion is or what you believe. I felt it," Reba said.

During the panel, she got to share her Super Bowl national anthem experiences with last year's Western Heritage Awards Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Red Steagall. The country songwriter, recording artist and radio host is credited with helping Reba launch her music career, after he heard her sing the national anthem in 1974 at the National Finals Rodeo in OKC, a gig she kept for 10 years.

"I always wanted to be a world champion barrel racer. ... But Daddy always said, 'Reba, why do you always want to do something you're not good at?' And he meant rodeoing, so that was a subtle hint to keep singing," she told The Oklahoman after the panel.

"When Red Steagall heard me, took me to Nashville, it was just meant to be. So, I got my cake and got to eat it, too, with getting to play rodeos — singing instead of competing — and to still stay around the rodeo families that I had known growing up. ... So, this does mean an awful lot. It's my heritage."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Reba McEntire and Rex Linn return to OKC for Western Heritage Awards