Blake Shelton Just Officiated Reba McEntire’s Ex-Husband’s Wedding
The Voice Season 25 coach Reba McEntire is currently dating Rex Linn, but before this relationship, she was married to Narvel Blackstock for 26 years. Unfortunately, the couple decided to part ways in 2015. Now, Blackstock is remarried — and fellow country superstar Blake Shelton officiated the wedding. Here’s what to know.
Blake Shelton acted as the officiant of Reba McEntire’s ex-husband’s wedding
The Voice coach and country music star Blake Shelton knows current coach Reba McEntire well. The superstars have a shared background of growing up in Oklahoma, and McEntire took over for Shelton when he left the reality TV series. Not only does Shelton know McEntire, but he knows her ex-husband, Narvel Blackstock.
Shelton officiated Blackstock’s wedding in April 2024. In Nashville, Tennessee, Blackstock married McEntire’s old friend, Laura Stroud. Not only was Shelton in attendance, but Gwen Stefani was as well. Photos of the happy couple and Shelton were posted to Instagram by Narvel’s daughter-in-law. Stroud had reportedly been dating Blackstock since his divorce from McEntire in 2015.
Shelton knows Blackstock as his previous manager of many years, and they maintained a good relationship. It doesn’t look like McEntire attended the wedding, though their divorce was reportedly amicable. McEntire explained on The Drew Barrymore Show that her marriage to Blackstock was purely “business.”
“Our marriage was 26 years,” the country singer explained, according to Us Weekly. “We started out working together in the band. He was part of the band, and then became my manager, later on then my husband, but it was a situation that was always business — whether we were getting ready in the morning, pillow talk, whatever, but it was business.”
Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton became friends thanks to their similar country backgrounds
Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton knew each other long before McEntire took over for Shelton on The Voice.
“It’s been a friendship from the very beginning,” McEntire explained on Access. “We’re both from Oklahoma, like an hour apart from where we grew up. We worked together. We’ve had fun together and gone on vacations together. So, it’s just too much fun. He tells the greatest stories, too.”
Shelton thinks equally highly of McEntire, and he was thrilled when she took over as a coach on The Voice.
“[There’s] no one better than Reba, honestly,” Shelton told Entertainment Tonight. “To be honest, and I don’t mean this as a dig to anybody, I’m shocked that they got her. I mean, Reba is an icon. Getting her to even be a mentor on the show, I was going, whoa! There’s been a handful of artists over the years, like Dolly [Parton], and we had Bette Midler, we’ve had Taylor Swift …. Reba is one of those to me that’s like, ‘Oh my god, we got Reba! Reba’s coming in!'”
Reba McEntire revealed she’s open to marrying her boyfriend, Rex Linn
Reba McEntire’s ex-husband, Narvel Blackstock, just tied the knot. What does that mean for McEntire and her boyfriend, Rex Linn?
“If that’s something he feels totally strong about, that’s fine with me,” McEntire told E! News. “He’s never been married before. So, if he wants to experience that, I’m OK with that.”
McEntire added that she doesn’t “have much faith in being bound by a piece of paper or ring,” especially after two failed marriages. Before divorcing Blackstock, she was married to Charlie Battles from 1976 to 1987. Despite this, she feels completely committed to Linn.
This story was originally reported by The Sun.
The Voice Season 25 airs on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
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