Reba McEntire almost quit singing after mother’s death

When Reba McEntire lost her mother in 2020, she didn’t feel like she could ever sing another music note again.

However, because time heals all wounds, the country crooner, 68, has found her passion for music once again.

McEntire got candid with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on the “Today” show earlier this week about her pain with losing her mom, Jacqueline Smith.

The Oklahoma native divulged that she almost quit the music industry because her grief was too much to bear.

She recalled flipping through old snapshots of her family with her sister, Susie, and stating: “I said, ‘I just don’t think I’m going to do this anymore.’”

“[Susie] said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Sing.’ I said, ‘I always did it for Mama.’ She said, ‘Oh, you’ll get it back.’ I did,” McEntire sighed.

“I’m busier than I’ve ever been. I’m so grateful and thankful,” she went on.

The “Heart to Heart” musician explained that it was Smith who created her image, as well as managed her brother Pake and sister Alice’s early music careers.

“She was really encouraging for all of us kids, whatever we wanted to do,” the “Reba” alum continued.

“Mama was the one that inspired us kids, taught us kids how to sing, took us to our singing gigs and was our biggest cheerleader,” she added. “She taught us harmony. Anytime anybody needed an opinion of who’s off, Mama would come in with her spatula after she was frying potatoes.”

Her mom would then give her opinion and say, “Oh, that’s perfect!”

McEntire mused: “And she’d go back in and keep frying potatoes.”

The singer’s latest song, “Seven Minutes in Heaven,” is inspired by her mother, and she also sang it live on the “Today” show.

Smith died at the age of 93 due to cancer and McEntire in March 2020.

“Our Mother, Jacqueline McEntire, made that wonderful cross over into Heaven today,” she emotionally penned at the time. “She had a wonderful, full, healthy life and was absolutely ready to go.”

She concluded: “The cancer might think it won the battle but we’re giving God all the credit on selecting the time for her to go home to Him. She was ready to see our Daddy, her mama and daddy and all her family and friends.”