Born and raised in Oklahoma, the Happy’s Place star has said her late mother, Jacqueline McEntire, was always her “biggest cheerleader.” McEntire also remembers what her mother told her before she braved the stage at a Christmas concert in the first grade.

Reba McEntire’s mom encouraged her with a few simple words before her first performance at 6 years old

In an interview with TODAY’s Willie Geist in April 2023, The Voice Coach looked back at when she first dabbled in performing in front of a live audience at the age of 6. The country legend revealed that she knew she had a special musical talent “in first grade” when she sang “Away In a Manger” during a Christmas concert at the local high school.

“I wanted attention,” she told Geist. “And I figured out the best kind of attention I could get was when I would sing. Not running barrels, not playing basketball, but singing. That’s when everybody kind of leaned forward and listened a little bit more.”

McEntire’s mother calmed any nerves she might’ve had with a few simple words. “Well, Mama was encouraging me, saying, ‘It’ll be fine. You can do it,'” she recalled. “And so when you have that kind of help, you can just do about anything. When you have that kind of support from your parents, somebody you trust and love so much.”

McEntire added that she “volunteered to sing” at whatever kind of school or community program she could. “Once you do get attention for doing something good, you want to do it again and again,” she told Geist.

Reba McEntire’s mom taught her and her siblings how to sing

While McEntire’s mother had dreams of becoming a country singer herself, she never got a chance to pursue that path and ultimately shared her passion with her children.

“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 told TODAY in 2023. McEntire and two of her siblings went on to become the Singing McEntires, performing at a variety of events when they were younger.

“Our car didn’t have a radio, so my mother taught us to sing in harmony,” McEntire said in an interview with the Horatio Alger Association. “It seemed like we were always singing. Eventually, we formed a vocal group called the Singing McEntires with myself, my brother, Pake, and my younger sister, Susie. We sang at rodeos, and when we were older we got some paying jobs in honky-tonks and dance halls. At the end of the night, we would each make about $13.”

Through the years, McEntire has shared her appreciation for her mother’s guidance in music, describing her as her “original teacher” in a 2018 Facebook post. “Not only did she teach us kids to sing harmony, but she also served five school districts for almost 20 years as a teacher, secretary and librarian!” she wrote. “Thanks Mama for the education you gave to us and so many other kids throughout Oklahoma.”