Reba McEntire hasn’t had the best luck in love. The country music star tied the knot with her first husband and rancher, Charlie Battles, in 1976, but the two split up 11 years later. Even though Battles was a decade older than 21-year-old McEntire when they got married, the two enjoyed life together at their Oklahoma home. Their relationship fizzled, however, when McEntire’s career took off in the 1980s. “I guess I chose my career over my marriage,” she admitted to CNN.
The “Does He Love You” singer later fell in love with her former band member, Narvel Blackstock, whom she met when they were both wed to other people. After her divorce was finalized and Blackstock had separated from his partner, the pair’s relationship went from professional to romantic. The two went on to get married in 1989 and later welcomed their only child together, their son, Shelby.
McEntire and Blackstock’s love story ultimately came to a head in 2015, however, when the two announced their separation after 26 years of marriage. As her marriage crumbled, so did her business relationships. “I had my production manager who left, I had my CEO who left, my manager and husband, and my father had died,” she explained on Apple Fitness+ Time to Walk (via People). “I started taking over signing the checks,” she added. “I made the money, I brought it home. So it was a huge, huge change for me.”
