Is Reba McEntire running a little behind Bob Hope as a perennial hosting an awards ceremony…or is she actually a little ahead of him? It depends on how you count. Because this year marks her 17th year hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards, aka ACM, and Hope has won 19 Oscars, comparing these gigs to her He still has two years left to match his record.
But McIntyre has hosted a rival program, the CMA Awards, five times over the years. So, if you include all the time McIntyre has hosted various national award programs, she'll actually be 22 years old, if you do the math correctly…much older than Hope. Something clicked, to say the least.
Variety clicked on Zoom with McIntyre for a few minutes ahead of Thursday night's ACM Awards. For the third year, the awards will be broadcast live exclusively on Prime Video (and Amazon's Twitch channel). Also, what to expect from the upcoming new album and single (to be premiered on the show), a surprise appearance on Stagecoach with Miranda Lambert, and the just-greenlit NBC sitcom “Happy's Place” I also asked if they would do so. She doesn't have much time to ask questions on “The Voice” to begin with, but she's a woman who does so much ironing, so it's a good thing she managed to do the ACMs mostly while she was sleeping. That's it.
It won't be long before Bob Hope sets the all-time record for TV host. By our most comprehensive standards, you've probably already achieved it.
Oh, no one can beat Bob Hope.
Is there some kind of mantra that we have to constantly remind ourselves to keep that spark alive and to never coast through when we plunge into it?
Oh, I hate calling. I hate making calls out of inertia. I'm ready. If you are well prepared, you won't feel nervous or anxious. When you don't know what you're going to do, that's when you start to get nervous. The costumes, monologue, and script are all already worked out, so the more I can do that, the more prepared I will be. And once you get there, show night is just fun and soak it up.
Does being in Texas make your commute any easier? You said Oklahoma is “progressing” from Texas, so you don't mind the show coming back from Nashville. .
That would have been the case if I was in Oklahoma, but I'm going to be in Los Angeles filming “The Voice,” so I'm going to go out to attend the awards ceremony and then fly back to watch the final week of “The Voice.” continue. It flies back and forth.
At ACM, it's nice that all the participating artists are in the same hotel. That way, you can visit before a show, after a show, before or after rehearsal, or anytime you can get into the hotel. It wouldn't be as much fun if everyone was spread out in different hotels and such. That's why we loved it while living in Las Vegas. And now I'm going to Frisco (the show's home base, a Dallas suburb), so I'll have to report back for comparison.
You said something the other day that you watched Dolly and Garth host last year and it brought out the competitive side in you.
I mean in a fun way, they were having so much fun that I wanted to be a part of it. But yeah, yeah, I remember it. And we got new music. It's a great way to promote it and get things back in the swing of things. Dolly is my hero. She always has been, and Dolly remains relevant to her time. She's working hard to stay there, and I'm just following in her footsteps and leading her.
Is there anyone on the show that excites you? Luke Combs and Megan Moloney have the most nominations, followed by Jelly Roll and Laney Wilson, who are suddenly the two newest of all award shows right now. has become an eternal favorite.
…and Cody Johnson. I'm really looking forward to everyone participating. Megan, I've never met her before and I'm not familiar with her music, so I'm going to get educated on that and then go up to her and say, “Hello, how are you doing?'' Big fan! “I know I'm going to be a big fan. It's like a family reunion situation. When you go to a family gathering, you get to see the whole family, and you get to meet the kids who were born since the last time. I'm rooting for them because I know they've worked really hard or they wouldn't have been nominated for the first time. We got to meet, and they were just sweethearts, and I love them to pieces. Miranda, my stagecoach buddy, is coming too, so let's have some fun.
Speaking of Stagecoach, it was an exciting moment when they came out with Miranda for the extended climax of their headliner set. I felt that someday I would like to do a tour where the two of us headline together for 20 minutes at the end. Of course you both are fine on your own, but is there any possibility of doing that?
Oh, of course. I would love to tour with Miranda. I love her sass and her fun energy, and I love her music, so she's going to be a great tour.
Miranda Lambert and Reba McEntire perform on the T-Mobile Mane Stage during the 2024 Stagecoach Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 27, 2024 in Indio, California.Stagecoach Getty Images
For Stagecoach, she texted me and told me what she was doing and I said, “I would love to.” What do you want to do? 'And she said, 'Okay, let's do one of mine and one of yours.' And I said, “Tell me how you want to do it and I'll learn your music.” I've been singing her songs ever since. When you memorize, memorize, memorize, and then perform, you can't get it out of your head. Thank God it was a great song.
The upcoming NBC series will reunite many of the talents from the original series.
We shot the pilot on April 1st…same producers, same writers, same showrunners. And then we got Melissa (Peterson) and my boyfriend Rex Lynn on board. Ever since they canceled us on the “Reba” show, we've been trying to get another sitcom started… which just so happened to be announced that they're going to be on Netflix. We're thrilled to death about it. So, yes, the whole team got together. We aired “Malibu Country” on ABC for a year. Then Julie Abbott, Kevin's wife, came up with the idea for “Happy's Place,'' a story about her father and I running a tavern in Knoxville, Tennessee. Then her father passed away and full ownership of him passed to me. But then I found out that there was a little problem with the situation and I wasn't very happy with it, but it resolves itself in the pilot.
Happy's Place — “Pilot” — Pictured: (from left) Reba McEntire as Bobby and Belissa Escobedo as Isabella. Casey Durkin/NBC
At ACM, we're not just going to be talking, we're going to be singing something for everyone. What do you play?
Oh, and luckily for me, I ended up working on a new single, “I Can't,” which will be released later this year. I ended up recording it with Dave Cobb. He produced the album. It's a song about a very strong woman, so I hope everyone will enjoy it.
Will there be any albums produced by Cobb in the future?
Well, the rest of the album won't be released until this year. I worked with Tony Brown for a long time, and then I ended up working on a project with Dave Cobb and I thought, “Wow, I'd like to try him on the album.” It's good for me to mix things up and do something different, and I love working with Dave and his musicians. We had a lot of fun so let's see how everyone takes it.