Earlier This Year, Reba McEntire Was Honored With the Western Heritage Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award
Each year, the Western Heritage Awards honors those who have made a huge impact in celebrating and living the Western way of life. In April, Reba McEntire took the stage to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award, delivering a nearly five-minute speech that showed her dedication to her Western roots and love for her country upbringing.
Although McEntire is known as one of the biggest stars in country music history, she has always stayed true to the values and work ethic she was raised with. Growing up on a cattle ranch in the small town of Chockie, Oklahoma, McEntire was surrounded by a family of farmers, ranchers, and steer ropers. This upbringing gave her an understanding of what it truly means to be a “Cowboy” or “Cowgirl.”
Mike Ingram, Gary Kinslow, and Red Steagall presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to McEntire. The moment was especially meaningful because Red Steagall played a significant role in helping McEntire’s music career take off. In 1974, Steagall attended the National Finals Rodeo where a young Reba McEntire sang the National Anthem. Her performance impressed him so much that he helped her land her first record deal.
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Reba’s Emotional Acceptance Speech
While giving her acceptance speech, McEntire spoke without using any notes. She even mentioned that her boyfriend, Rex Linn, had been encouraging her to prepare something ahead of time.
“Rex has been on to me since about two weeks ago to write something up, and I said ‘I want it to come from my heart,'” she said. “Because this is such a special room, a special place for the McEntire family, to so many of my friends.”
Speaking from her heart is exactly what McEntire did as she went on to share with the audience why the traditional Western lifestyle means so much to her.
“I never could figure out why the Western way was so romantic to me,” McEntire shared. “Because when we get up at 4 in the morning [to] go gather cattle and whey, and ship them out, and then go to school by 8:15, I couldn’t figure out where was the romantic part of this?”
“This is a lot of hard work,” she continued. “But I love to watch the old Western movies because the cowboys always protected and defended the underdog. That’s what I loved about it. And that’s what cowboys and cowgirls do. That’s what we do in our way of life. We stand up for the underdog, and there’s so many. All of y’all do that because if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here in this room tonight. Because that’s what this cowboy way of life, cowgirl way of life, the Western way of life, is all about. Pulling for your neighbor, reaching out, helping them stand back up when they get knocked down. That was the romantic part about it.”
Near the end of her speech, McEntire shared that, until recently, she believed she had achieved every life goal she ever set. She had reached every career milestone she’d dreamed of and is in a committed relationship, so, in her eyes, she had accomplished everything she wanted. But after thinking it over, she realized there was still one more goal she wanted to reach.
“I want to be the cowboys in those movies that stood up for the underdog,” she said. “I want to continue that in my life. That’s what I want to be, is an encourager.”
Watch Reba McEntire’s full speech at the Western Heritage Awards ceremony in the video below.