In mid-2007, McEntire announced the release of her twenty-fifth studio album, Reba: Duets, on September 18. McEntire stated that out of all the albums she had previously recorded, her newest release was particularly special: "This is an album that will go down in history as probably my favorite album to record because I got to work and sing and be with my friends. Out of everything in this whole career that I can say that I'm the most proud of, are my friends. And here's the proof." In promotion for the album, McEntire made appearances at radio shows and on The Oprah Winfrey Show September 19. The album's lead single, "Because of You"—a duet with Kelly Clarkson, who originally recorded the song—became her fifty-fifth Top 10 single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, tying her with Dolly Parton, who also had the same amount of Top 10 records. The album was given high critical praise from magazines such as PopMatters, which called McEntire's vocals, "to sound sweet without being syrupy, while being extremely powerful. McEntire's vocal strength yields a different kind of authority than the bluesy, drawling growl of Janis Joplin, the weathered rasp of Marianne Faithfull, or even the soul-shrieking powerhouse of Tina Turner. Instead, Reba's voice combines the aspects of all three singers but tempers it with a Southern sweetness and an unmistakable femininity." The album contained 10 tracks of duets with country and pop artists, including Kenny Chesney, LeAnn Rimes, Trisha Yearwood, Carole King, and Justin Timberlake. Reba: Duets peaked at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, while also becoming her first album in her thirty-year career to peak and debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with 300,536 copies (according to Nielsen Soundscan) sold within its first week of release. On January 17, 2008, McEntire embarked on the 2 Worlds 2 Voices Tour with Clarkson, which began in Fairborn, Ohio and ended in November of the same year. A month after its release, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on October 19, 2007. The album's only other single was "Every Other Weekend". Recorded on the album as a duet with Chesney, it was released to radio with its co-writer, Skip Ewing, as a duet partner.
Reba McEntire Biography, Age, Height, Husband, Net Worth, Family
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