Reba McEntire's First Marriage Taught Her What She Didn't Want In A Relationship

For women who have found success and wealth all on their own, finding a partner who can genuinely celebrate that brilliance rather than try to dim it is a challenge. For those in the spotlight, navigating that delicate balance between partnership and power dynamics can reveal a relationship's true potential. For country legend Reba McEntire, who has had a stunning style transformation over the years, her first marriage helped her realize the exact thing she didn't want in a relationship: a domineering man who was unsupportive of her career.

When the singer was just 21, she married Charles Battles, who was 10 years older than her, in 1976. As if the potential imbalances of power due to the age gap, weren't enough to navigate, McEntire's surging career brought out another side of Battles that she struggled to accept. In a 2001 interview with Parade, the "Reba" star admitted that she ended up marrying someone too much like her father. "I married a rodeo cowboy very much like daddy," McEntire told the outlet (via News on 6). "Charlie tried to control me. With Charlie it was,`Do what I say you need to do.”'

According to McEntire, her ex was far more interested in controlling her than supporting her rise as a country star. In particular, he warned her that she would have to quit music if they had kids, since she would be the parent looking after them without much help from him. He also downplayed her success, insinuating that she wouldn't see much more of it after 1986, when she received the honor of Entertainer of the Year. Soon, McEntire realized the relationship was not the marriage she wanted, divorcing Battles in 1987 and going on to tie the knot with her tour manager Narvel Blackstock in 1989.

Sometimes, true love finds you when you least expect it. Reba McEntire, who is almost unrecognizable rocking her natural hair, walked away from past heartbreak and focused on her thriving career. In 2015, she separated from Narvel Blackstock, with whom she shares son Shelby, and decades later, she found love again. In fact, the "Fancy" singer shared with People in October 2025 that she's "never been loved by a man like Rex Linn," whom she began dating in 2020. Although the pair first met back in 1991 while filming "The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw," it took almost three decades for their paths to realign into something romantically lasting. 

The country singer shared in her People interview that the best aspect of their relationship is that they do everything together and that's what is so new and meaningful to her: "Getting to work with Rex and do the show, the rehearsals, drive home, talk about it, rehearse together — that's what's really special for me. I've not had that before." 

Sometimes, the courage to leave what doesn't serve you anymore is the exact thing that clears the path for a love that amplifies the light you radiate rather than dimming it. McEntire, who obviously seems happier than ever in her 70s, found a partnership in Linn that doesn't seek to downplay her success, the way she said her first husband Charles Battles did. Linn actively shares the stage and the ride with her, and it's proof that when you finally know what you don't want, the door opens to what you truly deserve.