With a contract to Mercury Records (1975), McEntire began her professional career singing heavily pop-influenced ballads, a far cry from the neotraditionalist movement she would help lead a few years later.
"I Don't Want To Be A One Night Stand" became her first charting single in 1976. Her first Top 10 hit "(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven" followed four years later, and in 1982 she scored her first #1 hit with "Can't Even Get The Blues."
Frustrated at her limited commercial success, McEntire left Mercury and signed with MCA Records in 1984. 1984's "Just A Little Love" wasn't much different form her Mercury material and was only moderately successful. However, another album followed later that same year, titled "My Kind of Country." This was a return-to-roots record, complete with fiddles and steel. It was comprised largely of covers of classic country songs, as well as original songs such as "How Blue" and the Harlan Howard-penned "Somebody Should Leave", both of which reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart.
In the early 1990s McEntire expanded her audience by adopting a softer, more pop-oriented sound. She became one of the best-selling country artists of all time, releasing three volumes of greatest hits collections.
Since that first #1 hit in 1982, she's forked out 21 more chartbusters, which are all recapped on "Reba #1s" released on November 22nd, 2005. The 2-disc compilation features all 22 number one singles (according to Billboard magazine) in chronological order, including two new tracks "You're Gonna Be" and "Love Needs A Holiday." "Reba #1s" also contains 11 singles that reached the #1 spot in publications other than Billboard.
She won the Female Vocalist of the Year award from the Country Music Association four times in a row (a record she holds with Martina McBride), and had dozens of Top Ten hits during the 80s. For her contribution to the recording industry, Reba McEntire has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd. In 1995, she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
She is one of only six solo women (others include Shania Twain, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Taylor Swift), to win the Country Music Association's highest honor, "Entertainer Of The Year". McEntire continued to hit the charts through the 2000s, as well as appearing in television and film, most notably Tremors, a cult horror movie series, Forever Love, and One Night at McCool's. She also starred as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun on Broadway, receiving critical acclaim.
From 2001 to 2007, Reba starred in the hit WB television show, Reba (with Texan actor Christopher Rich as her philandering ex-husband), even getting a visit from fellow country star Dolly Parton who played Reba's character's supervisor at a real estate firm.
Pink Guitar
Reba McEntire Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She mowed the grass, took out the trash and saved, saved, saved.
She bought it on a Monday, had a gig on Friday night.
In the garage, in front of her mom, she came alive!
She likes to play, she loves to rock.
Yeah, she's closer to the bottom but she's headed for the top.
She's got a dream to be a star dressed in black like Johnny Cash,
No, she didn't go to college, she just up and hit the road.
Where ever they were jamming she would go go go.
And every single hole in the wall from here to Shreveport,
She'd have them in the palm of her hands, screamin' for more!
She likes to play, she loves to rock!
Yeah, she's closer to the bottom but she's headed for the top.
She's got a dream to be a star dressed in black like Johnny Cash,
With a pink guitar.
Some day you're gonna see her up there on the Opry stage.
And soon you'll see her hanging there,
Next to Dolly's face, in the country music hall of fame.
She likes to play, she loves to rock!
She's got a dream to be a star.
She likes to play, she loves to rock!
Yeah, she's closer to the bottom but she's headed for the top.
She's got a dream to be a star dressed in black like Johnny Cash,
with a pink guitar. (pink guitar)
I said a pink guitar. (with a pink guitar)
She's plays a pink guitar.
I said a pink guitar.
The lyrics to Reba McEntire's "Pink Guitar" depict a story of a young woman who dreams of becoming a country music star. The first verse describes how she sees a pink guitar in a store window and decides to save up her money to buy it. She then practices in her garage in front of her mom, and it's there that she comes alive with her passion for music.
The second verse tells of how she didn't pursue a college education but instead hit the road wherever she could find a venue to play. She would captivate small audiences with her talent and leave them wanting more. The lyrics repeat through the chorus that she's on her way to becoming a country music star, even though she's closer to the bottom than the top. She dreams of being a star dressed in black, like Johnny Cash, but with a pink guitar.
Line by Line Meaning
She saw it in the window, just a callin' out her name.
Reba saw a pink guitar calling out her name in the window of a music store.
She mowed the grass, took out the trash and saved, saved, saved.
Reba worked hard, saved money, and did all the household chores to buy the pink guitar she saw in the store.
She bought it on a Monday, had a gig on Friday night.
Reba bought the pink guitar on Monday and had a performance to play on Friday night.
In the garage, in front of her mom, she came alive!
Reba felt alive playing her pink guitar in the garage in front of her mother.
She likes to play, she loves to rock.
Reba enjoys playing music and loves to rock out.
Yeah, she's closer to the bottom but she's headed for the top.
Though she is not yet famous, Reba is determined to make it to the top of the country music industry.
She's got a dream to be a star dressed in black like Johnny Cash, with a pink guitar.
Reba dreams of becoming a famous country music artist like Johnny Cash, but with the unique addition of playing a pink guitar.
No, she didn't go to college, she just up and hit the road.
Reba did not attend college but instead decided to hit the road in pursuit of her dream.
Where ever they were jamming she would go go go.
Reba would travel anywhere there was live music and perform with her pink guitar.
And every single hole in the wall from here to Shreveport, she'd have them in the palm of her hands, screamin' for more!
Reba could captivate any audience, no matter how small or obscure the venue, and leave them wanting more of her music.
Some day you're gonna see her up there on the Opry stage.
Reba envisions herself performing on the stage of the famous Grand Ole Opry theater one day.
And soon you'll see her hanging there, next to Dolly's face, in the country music hall of fame.
Reba dreams of being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame alongside other great artists like Dolly Parton.
I said a pink guitar. (with a pink guitar)
Reba emphasizes the importance of her pink guitar in her music journey.
She's plays a pink guitar. I said a pink guitar.
Reba repeats the significance of her pink guitar in her music.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: ED HILL, JAMIE O'NEAL, SHAYE SMITH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind