Mostly no. She is chiefly an interpreter who finds and records songs written by professional Nashville songwriters rather than writing her own material. She has taken occasional co-writing credits, but her reputation rests on song selection and her vocal delivery, not authorship.
By the Numbers
12
Studio Albums
127
Tracks Credited
6%
Self-Written
75 million+
Records Sold
50
Years Active
264
Collaborators
Authorship Breakdown 7 / 127 self-written
Who wrote the songs?
Across all 127 tracks: how many Reba McEntire wrote alone, how many they co-wrote, and how many were written by others. The bracket marks every track they hold any writing credit on.
Reba McEntire has a writing credit6%
1%
5%
94%
Sole author1tracks1%
Co-written6tracks5%
Outside writers120tracks94%
Role Fingerprint how they contribute
Reba McEntire's roles across the catalogue
Share of all 127 tracks where they are personally credited, by role.
Lyricist (words)6%
Composer (music)6%
Producer92%
Performer100%
Authorship Over Time writing credit per album
Reba McEntire's writing credit per album, in release order. Hover any bar for the album.
avg 6%
0%
0%
10%
10%
10%
10%
0%
0%
0%
0%
8%
17%
1984My Kind of Country
1986Whoever's in New England
1987The Last One to Know
1990Rumor Has It
1991For My Broken Heart
1992It's Your Call
1994Read My Mind
1995Starting Over
1996What If It's You
1999So Good Together
2009Keep On Loving You
2019Stronger Than the Truth
Early · 5% written
Mid · 5% written
Late · 6% written
Authorship by Decade track-weighted
3%
1980s
My Kind of Country, Whoever's in New England +1 more
4%
1990s
Rumor Has It, For My Broken Heart +5 more
8%
2000s
Keep On Loving You
17%
2010s
Stronger Than the Truth
Authorship Spectrum pure performer to complete author
Where Reba McEntire sits on the scale from a pure performer (0%, sings songs written by others) to a complete author (100%, writes everything). The bright marker is their catalogue authorship score, plotted against other artists on the site.
Reba McEntire
Other artists on the site
Reference artists spread across the scale, closest by genre and era.
Written by Bobby Fischer, Austin Roberts, Charlie Black, Charles Black
Outside writers
Rumor Has It
Rumor Has It
Written by Bruce Burch, Vern Dant, Larry Shell
Outside writers
Fancy
Rumor Has It
Written by Bobbie Gentry, Roberta Lee Streeter
Outside writers
Fallin' Out of Love
Rumor Has It
Written by Jon Ims
Outside writers
For My Broken Heart
For My Broken Heart
Written by Liz Hengber, Keith Palmer
Outside writers
Is There Life Out There
For My Broken Heart
Written by Susan Longacre, Rick Giles
Outside writers
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia
For My Broken Heart
Written by Bobby Russell
Outside writers
The Greatest Man I Never Knew
For My Broken Heart
Written by Richard Leigh, Layng Martine Jr.
Outside writers
Take It Back
It's Your Call
Written by Kristy Jackson
Outside writers
The Heart Won't Lie
It's Your Call
Written by Kim Carnes, Donna Weiss
Outside writers
It's Your Call
It's Your Call
Written by Bruce Burch, Shawna Harrington-Burkhart, Liz Hengber
Outside writers
Why Haven't I Heard from You
Read My Mind
Written by Sandy Knox, T.W. Hale
Outside writers
She Thinks His Name Was John
Read My Mind
Written by Sandy Knox, Steve Rosen
Outside writers
Till You Love Me
Read My Mind
Written by Bob DiPiero, Gary Burr
Outside writers
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
Read My Mind
Written by Mark D. Sanders, Kim Williams, Ed Hill
Outside writers
And Still
Read My Mind
Written by Liz Hengber, Tommy Lee James
Outside writers
On My Own
Starting Over
Written by Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach, Burt Freeman Bacharach
Outside writers
Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands
Starting Over
Written by Don Goodman, Pam Rose, Mary Ann Kennedy
Outside writers
Starting Over Again
Starting Over
Written by Bruce Sudano, Donna Summer, LaDonna Adrian Gaines
Outside writers
You Keep Me Hangin' On
Starting Over
Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland Jr., Lamont Herbert Dozier
Outside writers
The Fear of Being Alone
What If It's You
Written by Walt Aldridge, Bruce Miller
Outside writers
How Was I to Know
What If It's You
Written by Cathy Majeski, Sunny Russ, Stephony Smith
Outside writers
I'd Rather Ride Around with You
What If It's You
Written by Mark D. Sanders, Tim Nichols
Outside writers
What If It's You
What If It's You
Written by Robert Ellis Orrall, Cathy Majeski
Outside writers
What Do You Say
So Good Together
Written by Michael Dulaney, Neil Thrasher
Outside writers
I'll Be
So Good Together
Written by Diane Warren
Outside writers
We're So Good Together
So Good Together
Written by Bob DiPiero, Annie Roboff, John Scott Sherrill
Outside writers
Strange
Keep On Loving You
Written by Wendell Mobley, Jason Sellers, Neil Thrasher
Outside writers
Consider Me Gone
Keep On Loving You
Written by Steve Diamond, Marv Green
Outside writers
I Keep On Loving You
Keep On Loving You
Written by Ronnie Dunn, Terry McBride
Outside writers
None of the signature songs above fall in this category.
Discography 12 albums
Covers a twelve-album core spanning Reba McEntire's career, from the neotraditional breakthrough My Kind of Country (1984) through Stronger Than the Truth (2019), including her run of MCA number-one albums, the all-covers Starting Over, and her later Valory and Big Machine records. McEntire has released roughly thirty-five studio albums; the remaining titles, including her early Mercury records, Christmas and gospel albums, are tracked in TODO.md under Incomplete Catalog.
Bubble size = tracks worked on together. Showing the 150 most frequent of 264. TB Tony Brown · SG Steve Gibson · LL Larrie Londin · MB Mark Bright
The Authorship Story
Data Insight
Reba McEntire's catalog is an interpreter's catalog, and the credits show it: song after song is authored by Nashville's professional writers while Reba's name sits only in the performer line. Her defining record of 'Fancy' was written by Bobbie Gentry (legal name Roberta Lee Streeter), 'Whoever's in New England' by Kendal Franceschi and Quentin Powers, and the story-songs that shaped her image came from outside pens. She co-writes only rarely, and those exceptions are worth naming: 'Climb That Mountain High' with Don Schlitz on Rumor Has It, 'Bobby' on For My Broken Heart, and a credit on Stronger Than the Truth. The 1995 album Starting Over is an all-covers set, the clearest statement of her role as a singer of other people's songs. Her lasting authorship contribution is curation and phrasing, choosing the right song and delivering it, backed by a stable of producers from Harold Shedd and Jimmy Bowen to Tony Brown.
Quick Facts
Country Music Hall of FameInducted in 2011, with Dolly Parton presenting her at the May 22 ceremony.
Records soldShe has sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
Number-one hitsShe has placed over 100 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, 25 of them at number one.
CMA Female VocalistShe was the first woman to win CMA Female Vocalist of the Year four years running, from 1984 through 1987.
Sitcom 'Reba'She led the WB and CW sitcom 'Reba' from 2001 to 2007 across six seasons.
Kennedy Center HonorsShe received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018.
Creative Fingerprint
Reba McEntire is chiefly an interpreter and a master song-picker, building her catalog from material written by Nashville songwriters and stepping in as a co-writer only on rare occasions.
The Story
Reba McEntire, born Reba Nell McEntire on March 28, 1955 in McAlester, Oklahoma, is one of the best-selling country artists of all time and a defining voice of the genre from the 1980s onward. Signed to Mercury and then MCA, she broke through with the neotraditional My Kind of Country (1984) and the signature hit 'Whoever's in New England' (1986), her first number-one country album. Across a long run of platinum records she is chiefly an interpreter, a song-picker who finds and shapes material written by Nashville's professional songwriters rather than writing her own, from her defining cover of Bobbie Gentry's 'Fancy' to story-songs like 'Is There Life Out There.' She built a second career as an actress, headlining the sitcom Reba from 2001 to 2007, and returned to traditional country on the Grammy-winning Stronger Than the Truth (2019). She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2011 and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018.
Awards & Recognition
Country Music Hall of Fame inductee (2011)
Kennedy Center Honors (2018)
Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance (1987, 'Whoever's in New England')
Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album (2018)
CMA Entertainer of the Year (1986)
CMA Female Vocalist of the Year, four consecutive years (1984-1987)
ACM Entertainer of the Year (1994)
Frequently Asked Questions Reba McEntire
Does Reba McEntire write her own songs?
Mostly no. She is chiefly an interpreter who finds and records songs written by professional Nashville songwriters rather than writing her own material. She has taken occasional co-writing credits, but her reputation rests on song selection and her vocal delivery, not authorship.
Who wrote 'Fancy'?
'Fancy' was written by Bobbie Gentry, who first recorded and released it in 1969. Reba McEntire recorded her hit version for her 1990 album 'Rumor Has It', so the song came to her as an outside cover rather than an original.
Who wrote 'Whoever's in New England'?
'Whoever's in New England' was written by Kendal Franceschi and Quentin Powers. Reba recorded it as the 1986 title track of the album of the same name, and her performance won the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1987, her first Grammy. She did not write the song herself.
What is Reba McEntire's real name?
Reba is her real name. Her full birth name is Reba Nell McEntire, and she was born on March 28, 1955, in McAlester, Oklahoma. 'Reba' is not a stage name or a shortened form of anything else.
How many number-one hits does Reba have?
She has reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart 25 times, out of more than 100 singles she has placed on that chart since the 1970s. That total makes her one of the most consistent hitmakers in country music history.
Is Reba in the Country Music Hall of Fame?
Yes. Reba McEntire was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2011, with Dolly Parton presenting her at the May 22 ceremony. The induction recognized a recording career that began in the late 1970s.
Has Reba McEntire won a Grammy?
Yes. She won Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1987 for 'Whoever's in New England', her first Grammy, and later won Best Roots Gospel Album in 2018 for 'Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope'. Both wins came for recordings of songs she selected rather than wrote.
How many records has Reba McEntire sold?
She has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, ranking her among the best-selling female country artists in history. Those sales come from a catalog built largely on outside songs she chose and interpreted.
Why is Reba considered a song-picker rather than a songwriter?
Reba sourced material from music publishers and pitched songs early in her career instead of writing her own, and that approach defined her whole catalog. Her signature hits, including 'Fancy' and 'Whoever's in New England', were all written by other people. Her craft is choosing the right song and inhabiting its story, which is why she is described as an interpreter.
Was Reba McEntire named CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year?
Yes. She won the CMA Entertainer of the Year in 1986, becoming only the second woman to take the top CMA honor after Loretta Lynn. She later won the ACM Entertainer of the Year in 1994.
Reba McEntire
