Reba McEntire Pays Tribute to Her Mother With a Song, ‘You Never Gave Up on Me’
Reba McEntire paid tribute to her mother, Jacqueline McEntire, in a song, and she got the chance to play it for her long before the 93-year-old died on Saturday (March 14).
"You Never Gave Up on Me" was included on McEntire's Stronger Than the Truth album (2019), and it moved the family matriarch to tears. Talking to Taste of Country, the younger McEntire recalled the special moment between them.
"Oh she cried, she loved it," McEntire said.
WATCH: Reba McEntire Talks About the Song She Cut for Mama
Stronger Than the Truth was her first album of non-holiday country songs since Love Somebody in 2015, but "You Never Gave Up on Me" was originally earmarked for her previous album, the Grammy-winning Sing It Now: Songs of Faith and Hope. It just didn't make the cut, but that sentiment didn't go away. So for the new album, they made a tweak, adding a line aimed right at McEntire's mother at the very end of the song.
"You never gave up on me / No, you never gave up on me / I'm here where I was always meant to be / I never gave up 'cause you never gave up on me / You never gave up on me / Thank you, Mama."
"It was a gospel album, it was talking about God. But to me who else besides God has been with me through thick and thin, he never gave up on me?" she asks. "Mama."
Watch the video above to learn how Reba McEntire needed to be convinced to include the song on the album. Find the song "You Never Gave Up on Me" below. This isn't the first time she's paid tribute to a parent on a record. "Just Like Them Horses" was the song she sang at her father Clark McEntire's funeral in 2014. It would later make her Love Somebody album.
McEntire announced her mother's death on social media on Saturday, revealing that she'd been battling cancer for quite some time. In lieu of flowers, people are being asked to donate to the Reba McEntire Fund to benefit the Jacqueline McEntire Library Fund.
Listen to Reba McEntire's "You Never Gave Up on Me" for Her Mama:
See the Cutest Pics of Country Stars With Their Mamas