Reba McEntire talks 59th ACM Awards show, country's global growth and its female stars

As she prepares for her 17th appearance as host of the Academy of Country Music Awards show on May 16, Reba McEntire enters her fifth decade of relevance to country music's mainstream industry.

Impressively, at age 69, McEntire's output has not slowed, and her impact remains profound.

She's now a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. However, in the past two decades, McEntire has completed six headlining arena tours, charted six Top 10 country radio singles, and released two-dozen compilations, EPs and studio albums. This is alongside appearing on Broadway, as a coach on "The Voice" and "America's Got Talent," developing a new sitcom ("Happy's Place," for NBC), opening a restaurant and releasing a cookbook.

"There's always a lot of attention on me," McEntire jokes while conversing with The Tennessean.

Shepherding country music's national and global relevance

"Hosting the ACM Awards grounds me by reminding me of how competitive country music (remains) but also acts like a family reunion where I can see my buddies and meet (my metaphorical) relatives and the babies that have been born since the last time the family got together."

McEntire was the 1994 ACM Entertainer of the Year and has won 16 ACM Awards overall, including her first victory in 1984. The "Fancy" vocalist first co-hosted the event in 1986 and last hosted it solo in Las Vegas in 2019.

The ACM Awards' recent entrenchment in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas, notes how the program whether held in Las Vegas or Los Angeles as in years past — has always reflected the breadth of country music's foundational hubs and its boom in national popularity.

McEntire, a native of McAlester, Oklahoma, about 150 miles north of Dallas, cites the "numerous" country music entertainers that the Sooner state and the "red dirt" area between Oklahoma and Texas have contributed to the genre.

However, the vocalist behind songs like 1986 ACM Country Music Video of the Year "Whoever's in New England" is quick to cite that while her roots are in Oklahoma, a decade into her career, America's Northeast wasn't just calling via that video but also via her fan club's membership spike in, of all places, Pennsylvania.

She's keen to note the genre's ability to adapt to technology that can grow its artists' appeal, highlighting the evolution since '80s-era music videos. McEntire believes the current era has created a moment where live-streaming an award show on Amazon is a novel strategy to globalize country music's popularity.

McEntire makes a fascinating historical note about unifying country music's century-long existence around the impact of African and European Americans creating and growing a sound that, at various points, has evolved to develop a multigenerational cycle defined by impact and re-inspiration.

Because that cycle is growing in tandem with social media and technology, McEntire "proudly" adds that "country music is broadly touching more diverse populations and types of sounds than ever."

Country's female stars are expanding a legacy

She offers a note that adds perspective to 2024's ACM Awards, and country music awards shows in general.

"The Academy of Country Music Awards offers an educated and well-versed summary of how the country music industry's (bottom-line) business (is impacted) by this growth," she says.

Four years into her mainstream career, McEntire had debuted on the Opry, saw her Jacky Ward duet "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" crack the Top 20 of country's charts and, by 1980, was nominated for the ACM's Top New Female Vocalist award as her album "Feel the Fire" included her first Top 10 hit, "(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven."

"I was thrilled to pieces to be nominated," she says.

Being nominated placed her in a direct line with female artists like Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette.

Extend that through 2024's six-time ACM Award nominee Megan Moroney, and the power of what the "Tennessee Orange" vocalist says she feels is the "honesty and vulnerability" of her songwriting, keying her success, gains greater resonance. Couple that with Lainey Wilson being given her 2023 ACM Female Artist of the Year award by Parton, her most significant musical inspiration, and a moment where country's legendary female lineage is extending becomes apparent.

Placed in context with a conversation with McEntire, the comments Wilson — who could be an ACM Triple Crown Award winner this year (New Artist of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year) — made at 2023's ACM Awards have a greater impact:

"Sure there's pressure in this moment," Wilson said, "but I'm also very motivated now to keep on going. The award wins this year have increased my confidence in who I am, why I write, how I perform and how much I appreciate those who support me."

Consider that a Wilson Triple Crown would place her in the same conversation with other female Triple Crown winners Barbara Mandrell, the Chicks, Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert.

McEntire considers one of her career's great honors is setting a standard that other names intrinsic in the moment many women in country's future could experience, including two with 18 Academy of Country Music Awards between them, Faith Hill and Trisha Yearwood.

"Striving to reach the epitome of female singers creates a warm positivity that causes those of us who have achieved that status to share our experiences, inspirations, and talents to continue to pave the way for up-and-coming stars," McEntire says.

The 59th Academy of Country Music Awards show is scheduled for May 16 at 7 p.m. CT, streaming live from Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, for a global audience on Amazon's Prime Video.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Reba McEntire hosts the 59th ACM Awards, live on Amazon Prime Video