When you look at someone with a career as long and illustrious as Reba McEntire, you have to wonder if, at any point, she asks herself if it’s time to count her winnings and enjoy the quiet calm of retirement. At 70 years old, Reba McEntire is busier than ever—and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Between coaching on The Voice, starring in her hit sitcom Happy’s Place, maintaining a legendary music career, and planning her wedding to co-star Rex Linn, the country icon has a schedule that would exhaust someone half her age. While anyone else might reach this point in their life and happily rest on their laurels, that isn’t exactly the country star’s style. So, is Reba McEntire retiring? According to the songstress, she doesn’t see it coming anytime soon.
Is Reba McEntire retiring? Here’s what she says

With so much on the horizon, both professionally and personally, Reba doesn’t quite see the need to change things up. When asked about retirement, the singer told People, “I don’t know when. It could be in 20 years.” She continued, “I think I’ll know when it’s the time. Dolly [Parton] and I talked about that an awful lot when she did the Reba show, and I said, ‘Are you going to retire?’ She said, ‘Why would I? What in the world could I do and have as much fun as what I’m doing in this job right now?’ I agree with her a hundred percent. Slow down, maybe, but no plans of retiring.”
On November 7, the second season of Happy’s Place hits NBC, and with all that the series has brought her, it’s no wonder that she wouldn’t want to step back from the gigs she’s got going on right now. For starters, Reba gets to spend her days working alongside one of her dearest friends, Melissa Peterman, who co-starred with her on the original Reba sitcom. “I am enjoying getting to work with Melissa Peterman again. She’s my buddy, she’s my pal, she’s my best friend. I just love her to pieces. Being with her on the Reba show for six seasons, and then remaining close friends while she’s working on other television shows, her game show, I’m touring and doing other things, it’s just great to get to work with her,” Reba told iHollywoodTV.
Leon Bennett/WireImage/Getty Images
Love later in life: Reba and Rex Linn’s joyful engagement
In addition to Reba McEntire showing the world that age is just a number thanks to her vigor and desire to continue working and sharing her gifts with the world, she’s also shown her fans that it’s never too late to create the life you’ve always dreamed of—and her love story with Rex Linn is proof of that. Though they met back in 1991, sparks didn’t really fly between them until she appeared on Young Sheldon alongside him in 2020. Fast forward a few years and the duo are engaged to be married. “I’m having a blast. I feel like a teenager again,” she recently shared with USA Today. “It’s just a wonderful time.” She continued, “I’m 70 years old, 50 years in the business, and I’m happier now than I’ve ever been in my life. God saved the best for last.”
If Reba’s joy-filled journey teaches us anything, it’s that life’s greatest adventures—in love, career, and happiness—can happen at any age. And that’s something worth celebrating.