Reba McEntire’s Tough-Love Rule That Kept Her Son Shelby From Becoming a “Spoiled Brat”
The Happy's Place star has described her son as "one of the biggest blessings of my life."
From the very beginning, Reba McEntire has always been grateful for her son, Shelby Blackstock. In fact, the Happy’s Place star knew from the moment she found out she was pregnant with him that the bond they’d share would be something special.
“From the first second I found out I was pregnant, up to today, this child is one of the biggest blessings of my life,” The Voice Coach alum wrote on Instagram in honor of Blackstock’s 34th birthday in 2024. “Thank you, God for letting me experience being a mama. I love you, Shelby, with all my heart mind and soul.”
From valuable life lessons to Blackstock's wedding, McEntire clearly treasures her relationship with her son. Read on to look back at some of their sweetest moments together through the years.
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When was Reba McEntire’s son Shelby Blackstock born?
McEntire gave birth to her first and only child, son Shelby Steven McEntire Blackstock, on February 23, 1990. The country icon shares Shelby with her ex-husband, Narvel Blackstock.
Through the years, the “I’m a Survivor” singer has reflected on the day she gave birth to her son. Like in 2015 when she posted a photo of herself as a new mom cuddling her newborn son in the hospital shortly after he was born. And in a Facebook post in 2016, McEntire wrote, “Giving birth to Shelby is the greatest thing I’ve done in my life. Nothing like it!”
Reba McEntire is “very close” with her son Shelby
While Shelby is all grown up these days — now 35 years old, with a NASCAR career under his belt and a loving wife, his longtime partner Marissa Branch — McEntire has said they’re still “very close.”
"Shelby is a gift from God to me. We're very close,” McEntire told People in 2022, adding that she’s “very proud of him.”
“He was a kid who had ADHD and could barely read in school, and now he's read 10 books this year,” she told the magazine. “He's always trying to improve and do better. His daddy did a great job too.”
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Reba McEntire taught her son Shelby a simple habit she learned from her dad
McEntire shared in an interview with Better Homes & Gardens that her own upbringing with her four siblings in Chockie, Oklahoma influenced a simple chore she taught her son early on.
“There were four of us kids growing up in a very small house, so if you didn’t pick up your things and get them out of the living room it got a little cluttered. Daddy made us kids all make our beds when we got out of it in the morning, and that’s what I do still today,” she told the magazine in 2023. “I taught Shelby the same thing. It’s very important to make your bed in the morning, that is a standing rule.”
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Reba McEntire says she raised her son Shelby to not be a “spoiled brat”
McEntire had been a household name years before Shelby was born in 1990, and, despite her immense fame as a country music star throughout his childhood, she always strived to raise her son to be a likeable, down-to-earth person with some thick skin.
“When we would play games or cards, I’d never let Shelby win,” she told People in 2022. “He wouldn't have learned anything that way. I always told Shelby, ‘I’ll always love you, but I want other people to like you. So don’t be a little jerk. Don’t be a spoiled brat.’”
Reba McEntire almost passed out the first time she watched her son Shelby as a race car driver
McEntire is certainly a proud mama, but there’s nothing quite like watching your baby drive a race car at very, very fast speeds. Blackstock was a professional race car driver for several years before he founded a construction company, and the first time McEntire watched her son zip around a racetrack was an emotional experience for her.
“When I first went to the Daytona Speedway and he was racing at Daytona — they drop that green flag and here they come racing around — and I was sitting there filming him. And all I could see was his car and then underneath the helmet was this little bitty baby face,” McEntire shared on The Rachael Ray Show in 2018. “It just broke my heart!”
McEntire said she had to sit down because she was “about to pass out” after seeing her son. “Carolyn, my tour manager, came over and she said, ‘Are you alright?’ And I said, ‘Oh my gosh, gimme a second,” she recalled. “And then I watched the rest of the race, it was alright.”
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Reba McEntire’s son and daughter-in-law pulled off a major surprise for her 70th birthday
When McEntire celebrated her 70th birthday on March 28, 2025, she thought she’d be states away from her son as she was on tour in Connecticut at the time. And while Blackstock and his wife had told a little white lie that they’d be in Chicago for a baby shower, they surprised the country icon at her concert that night.
“She had NO idea we were coming!!” McEntire’s daughter-in-law wrote on Instagram, alongside a video of the country star being brought to tears when she realized they traveled to be with her on her birthday. “The absolute sweetest moment.”
In the heartwarming video, after the group backstage finished singing “Happy Birthday,” McEntire walked right over to hug her son and told him that she’d been bragging about how honest he is.
“You big liar! Oh my God!” she said through tears as they continued to hug.
“My first lie!” Blackstock adorably clarified.
Reba McEntire and Shelby Blackstock danced to one of her songs at his wedding at Disney World
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When Blackstock married his wife Marissa at Walt Disney World in February 2022, the mother of the groom was on hand to dance with him on his big day. The mother and son danced to McEntire’s heartfelt song “You’re Gonna Be (Always Loved by Me),” her 2005 hit about becoming a mother and vowing to always be there for her child.
McEntire also performed her song “Fancy” at her son's wedding — right on the dance floor at their reception.
