Reba McEntire’s Son Once ‘Shocked Her to Pieces’ With a Big Decision

Reba McEntire said there’s one individual she’d do anything for, even if it meant hanging by the ceiling from her toenails. That person, of course, is her son, Shelby Blackstock. But she hasn’t immediately agreed with everything he wanted to do, even if she later changed her mind. What big decision in his life left her “shocked to pieces”? And what eventually made her look at the choice differently?

Who is Reba McEntire’s son, Shelby Blackstock?

In her autobiography, Reba: My Story, McEntire shared that she didn’t know if she would have taken another husband after her first divorce if it hadn’t been for wanting to have a baby. She decided during her first marriage that children were not part of her equation for life. But that feeling changed when she split from Charlie Battles.

McEntire had conquered the world of country music and developed a strong desire for a child by 1989. That’s the year she married her manager, Narvel Blackstock. Shelby was born in February 1990.

The arrival of her son was everything she hoped it would be, despite being on bedrest before his delivery. But there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t have done for him.

“I’d have hung by my toenails from the ceiling for that little boy,” she shared in an interview with Access.

Did Reba McEntire know her son would grow up to be a race car driver?

According to McEntire, she had no clue when Shelby was younger that he would be a race car driver. But she told Access that he used to zip around the driveway in his go-cart “like a little gnat.” She also mentioned in her autobiography that he had some early golf cart driving skills that might have tipped her off.

Then, one year he came home from the University of Arizona and said he didn’t want to return because he wanted to race cars. “He told me he didn’t want to finish. I said, ‘What are you talking about? Yes, you will finish college!’” the Tremors star told People. “He said he didn’t want to, and I said, ‘Well, what will you do?’ He said he wanted to be a race car driver.”

She added, “I was shocked to pieces! He said, ‘Mom, I’ve always loved cars.’ I said, ‘I know! You can be a car dealer or a mechanic!’”

But they made a compromise. McEntire told her son if he finished a year of college, they would send him to racing school. So, that’s what happened. She soon found that he was a “natural” at racing, which caught her attention. And now that it’s his profession, she’s his biggest fan.

Does Reba McEntire have grandchildren from Shelby Blackstock?

So far, McEntire doesn’t have any human grandchildren that are biological, though she is a grandparent to some human kids, including her stepson’s children with Kelly Clarkson. Notably, McEntire and Narvel divorced after 26 years of marriage. Then, Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock also divorced.

On the other hand, Shelby married for the first time in February 2022. McEntire attended the wedding with her current partner, Rex Linn, and entertained wedding guests by singing “Fancy.”