Reba McEntire is the queen of country music—and she seems to have found her king in boyfriend Rex Linn. 

“He’s the love of my life,” McEntire told People in October 2022. “We’re pretty much inseparable.”

While Linn and McEntire started dating in 2020, they’ve known each for more than 30 years, having met for the first time in 1991 while filming a TV movie. 

At the time, McEntire was married to second husband Narvel Blackstock, but she and Linn remained friendly over the years. 

(McEntire was married to her first husband, Charlie Battles, from 1976 to 1987.)

After reconnecting with Linn in early 2020, McEntire detailed their deep connection on her “Living & Learning” podcast. 

“[We’ve been] having discussions about our past, our [families], funny stories, him being an actor, me being an actress,” she said. 

“He’s very into my music, I’m very into his career—it’s just great getting to talk to somebody who I find very interesting, very funny, and very smart, and is interested in me too.”

The duo hit it off so quickly that they gave each other nicknames before they’d even started officially dating. At their first dinner with friends, McEntire ordered tater tots—and a new term of endearment was born. “I love tater tots,” McEntire wrote in her 2023 book, Not That Fancy. “Rex is famous for giving people nicknames. When he heard me say ‘tater tots,’ he said, ‘That’s our nickname.’ And that’s what he still calls me today.” (In return, McEntire calls Linn “sugar tot.”)

Keep reading for more details about Reba McEntire’s relationship with Rex Linn, her past husbands and family. 

Reba McEntire’s boyfriend is Rex Linn, who she started dating in 2020. The duo met in 1991, but at the time, McEntire was married to her second husband, Narvel Blackstock.

“We kept in contact over the years, we both know the same people,” McEntire explained during a 2020 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “So it was just like good friends getting back together and having dinner … then we started texting and talking on the telephone and getting to know each other better during the quarantine.”

Linn is an actor who is perhaps best known for playing Frank Tripp on CSI: Miami. He has also appeared in the TV shows Better Call Saul, Young Sheldon, Nashville, and JAG and films including Cliffhanger, Rush Hour and Django Unchained. He and McEntire have also shared the screen in her TV show Big Sky and the Lifetime movie Reba McEntire’s The Hammer.

McEntire and Linn met for the first time in 1991 while working on the TV movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, which also starred Kenny Rogers, David Carradine and Mickey Rooney. “We instantly bonded over living in Oklahoma and our love for horses and acting,” McEntire recalled in Not That Fancy. “He made me laugh, and we became good buddies.”

At the time, McEntire was married to Narvel Blackstock, whom she divorced in 2015, but she and Linn kept in touch over the years. They reconnected in early 2020 while McEntire was filming a guest spot on Young Sheldon, on which Linn plays Principal Tom Petersen. They went out to dinner with friends after work one night, and McEntire said she “started seeing Rex in a whole new light.”

After that dinner, they began texting and later “talked for hours every day.” In her book, McEntire noted that they initially couldn’t see each other in person because of coronavirus lockdowns. “All we could do was talk! But that wasn’t a bad thing,” she continued. “It gave us a chance to get to know each other better. From the very first call, I was just my honest self with him—never any pretense or performance. We were just ‘us,’ and it worked.”

McEntire is just over one year older than Linn. Born on March 28, 1955, McEntire will turn 69 this year. Linn was born on November 13, 1956, meaning he’ll be turning 68.

McEntire and Linn have been together for about four years. 

Reba McEntire is not currently married. She’s said she hasn’t ruled out the possibility of marriage, but the ball is in Linn’s court. “I told him if he wanted to get married that’s up to him totally. He doesn’t seem pressured one way or the other,” she told Taste of Country in November 2023. “We get along so well. We have fun. We travel together. Now, if you can do a road trip with a person and not get in an argument and still like each other when you get to your destination, that’s a pretty good partnership right there.” 

McEntire was married to steer-wrestling champion Charlie Battles from 1976 to 1987. They wed when she was 21 and he was 31, but their relationship fell apart as she shot to fame. He died of heart failure in 2013. 

McEntire married Blackstock, who had been the steel guitar player in her band and later her tour manager, in 1989. After they divorced in 2015, the “Fancy” singer revealed that the split was not her idea. “I didn’t want it in any shape, form or fashion,” she told CMT’s Cody Alan. 

In an interview with Parade, she said that, post-divorce, “Narvel is happier and I’m in a really good state of mind.”

“It’s taken me this time to pull through why and how,” she continued. “And there’s been a lot between us and I believe that to forgive is easier than forget. I can never forget some of what he did. But going on with life is what’s really important. And my faith helped me with that. I think about what God wants me to do. I focus on that.”

McEntire has one son, Shelby Blackstock, who was born in 1990. She also has three stepchildren from her marriage to Shelby’s father, Narvel Blackstock: Shawna (born in 1973), Brandon (born in 1976) and Chassidy (born in 1978).

McEntire shares her son, Shelby, with ex-husband Narvel Blackstock. McEntire married Blackstock, who was her manager and former steel guitar player, in 1989, two years after her divorce from first husband Charlie Battles. She announced in August 2015 that they had been separated for a few months, and they finalized their divorce in December of that year.

Despite her split from Blackstock, McEntire remains close with his children. “I don’t consider Brandon, Chassidy and Shawna stepchildren,” she told The Boot in 2010. “I claim them all.”

Born on Feb. 23, 1990, Shelby Blackstock is a race car driver. He made his professional debut in 2011 in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. He has raced for Andretti Autosport, Belardi Auto Racing, and Team Pelfrey in the Indy Lights series. In 2019, he began participating in touring car racing.

Shelby married his wife, Marissa Branch, in 2022 after six years of dating. They live in Nashville with their two dogs.

McEntire’s son, Shelby, will celebrate his 34th birthday later this month (February). 

McEntire’s stepson, Brandon Blackstock, was previously married to Kelly Clarkson. Brandon and Clarkson tied the knot in 2013 and later welcomed two children: daughter River Rose (born in 2014) and son Remington Alexander (born in 2016). They called it quits in June 2020 after nearly seven years of marriage.

After their split, McEntire said she was still on good terms with Clarkson, who was her friend before she began dating Brandon. “I love them both. Brandon’s my stepson, Kelly’s my good friend,” McEntire told Extra in October 2021. “I am pulling for both of them. … I love them with my whole heart.”

Clarkson, meanwhile, said there were “no hard feelings” between her and McEntire after her divorce from Brandon. “We text each other all the time,” Clarkson said during a July 2023 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “I think we’re both, you know, women of sound mind that know that life doesn’t work out sometimes.” 

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Source: Tampa Bay Times