Over her impressive 40-year career, Reba McEntire has recorded 80 songs written or co-written by members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Now the country superstar is being recognized for her contribution to Nashville's songwriting community. McEntire will be awarded the Inaugural Career Maker Award at the 48th Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala on Oct. 28 at Nashville's Music City Center.
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The Career Maker Award honors non-Hall of Fame members who've boosted the songwriting careers of Nashville's songwriters, many who've gone on to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
"I love to record," McEntire said in a press release. "Being in the studio is so creative and so much fun and very rewarding. That process starts with the songwriters and publishers sending me songs to listen to. Over my recording career, I have listened to thousands of songs written by incredibly gifted people. The songwriters in this community have never let me down, and have always shared their very best songs with me, which I appreciate more than they know. Being the first recipient of the Career Maker Award means so much to me because it's an award from the songwriters whose songs have helped me create and maintain a career I love. I thank them from the bottom of my heart."
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In a statement, Pat Alger, a songwriter and chair of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame board of directors, discussed McEntire's significant role in shaping country songs and her far-reaching impact on country music as a whole.
"Her Hall of Fame career as an artist has in turn helped create so many other Hall of Fame careers for songwriters," Alger said in a statement. "Once she chooses your song and puts her inimitable stamp on it, you begin to understand why you became a songwriter in the first place. She is indisputably a great singer who continues to transform a diverse catalog of songs into works of art of the highest order. Simply put, when Reba sings your song, it's not likely to get any better than that."
The announcement of McEntire's latest honor comes just days after the announcement that the multi-talented entertainer is among this year's Kennedy Center Honorees, along with Cher, Lin-Manuel Miranda and more.
The 2018 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees will be announced in August.
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