Reba McEntire's Sister Susie Is A Country Singer Herself

Reba McEntire may be one of the best-known names in country music, but she's not the only musician in the family. Au contraire, the icon's younger sister, Susie McEntire-Eaton, is a country singer, too. 

Reba has long been open about the close-knit bond she has with her family and offered snippets of the special moments she shared with them growing up. And, while much of their childhood revolved around rodeo sports, she's also spoken about the love of music shared with her younger sister, McEntire-Eaton, and brother, Pake McEntire. Spurred on by their parents — both of whom were strong advocates for their children making the most of their talents — the three siblings began making music together from a young age. In fact, as Reba recounted to CMT, when she started high school, their mother, Jacqueline McEntire, helped them start a band, along with many of their schoolmates. That's not all, though. At some point, the siblings also started a band of their own named The Singing McEntires. 

Reba, Pake, and McEntire-Eaton continued singing together even when Reba went to college. And both Pake and McEntire-Eaton were present when the "Fancy" singer was discovered by Red Steagall. While Steagall was only able to take Reba under his wing, the sisters continued singing together, even after she'd hit the big time. However, far from standing in her sister's shadows as a backup singer, McEntire-Eaton has since gone on to forge a singing career of her own. 

Like her older sister, Susie McEntire-Eaton has a lifelong love for music — and before becoming a backup singer for Reba McEntire in the early 80s, she even tried her hand at singing classes in university. However, as she recounted in an interview with Jesus Calling, the teachers attempted to get her out of her comfort zone, genre-wise ... and that just wasn't going to happen. "Finally, the music teacher just said, 'This is not working for you. You're too country.' And I said, 'Well, coming from Southeastern Oklahoma, what did you expect?'" she laughed. 

Luckily for McEntire-Eaton, she had a sister in the biz to help her get back into music after graduating, and for a while, they worked together. However, as noted on her website, she found herself in her perfect niche in 1984, when she decided to go solo and focus on country gospel. 

Since then, McEntire-Eaton has racked up several awards in the gospel country space. She's also used her success to pivot into other ventures. Today, she's one of the hosts of RFD TV's "Cowboy Church," a program centered on religion and Western traditions. Safe to say, it's a match made in heaven for the proud Oklahoman.

Reba McEntire and Susie McEntire-Eaton's days with The Singing McEntires may be over — and McEntire-Eaton may have shimmied her way out of being her sister's backup singer — but these two still love performing together. Case in point: They've collaborated. In fact, they've done so on more than one occasion.

Back in 2003, the singing sisters paired up to record "Sky full of angels." More than a decade later, they joined forces once again. Though, this time, it was a family affair. In 2017, Reba, McEntire-Eaton, their eldest sister, Alice Foran, and mom, Jacqueline McEntire, recorded, "I'll Fly Away." It's safe to say the OG singers of the family were only too happy to reunite in the recording booth. However, speaking to The Country Daily, Reba joked that not everyone was as comfortable on the mic as she and McEntire-Eaton were. "Susie and I, we were up there just singing our little hearts out and Mama, and Alice just kept backing up," she recounted. 

Ultimately, everyone was featured on the track, and the uber-successful country star was thrilled with how it turned out. As for Reba and McEntire-Eaton, they haven't partnered up again since "I'll fly away." That said — with their shared talent and history of working together (and loving it!) —  something tells us they wouldn't rule it out.