On the Charts 17 Years Ago Today, Reba McEntire Made Country Music History When She Broke This Record Previously Held by Loretta Lynn

Reba McEntire has previously said that she started her career in country music with two strikes against her. She was a woman, and not a particularly well-known one. In the 1970s, those traits rendered her all but invisible to the Nashville songwriting elite. She would finally break through with 1984’s My Kind of Country—which established her as “the finest woman country singer since Kitty Wells”, per Billboard.

These days, most people would include Reba McEntire on their Mt. Rushmore of country music women. She boasts the second-most ever wins for the Academy of Country Music’s Top Female Vocalist award (seven). Additionally, the country music diva has achieved 25 solo number-one hits across four decades (the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s).

On this day (August 26) in 2009, Reba McEntire landed on top of the Billboard pop albums chart for just the second time in her career with Keep On Loving You.

Selling 96,000 copies in its first week, Keep On Loving You reached number one on the country albums chart, as well. With the milestone, McEntire shattered a record previously held by Loretta Lynn for the most chart-topping albums by a female country artist.

Reba McEntire Replaced the “King” at No. 1

Fittingly, the “Queen of Country Music” unseated the genre’s “King”. Reba McEntire’s Keep On Loving You replaced George Strait’s Twang at number one on the Billboard 200.

It was only the “Fancy” singer’s second time at that coveted spot after reaching number one with Reba: Duets in 2007.

A New Start

Keep On Loving You marked a fresh chapter in Reba McEntire’s career, as it was the first album she released on the independent label, Valory Music.

In 2008, the three-time Grammy winner announced she was leaving her label of 25 years, MCA Nashville.

The album’s sassy lead single, “Strange”, debuted at number 39 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart—giving McEntire the highest solo chart debut of her career. It wouldn’t stop there, either, peaking just shy of the top 10 at number 11.

The fiery redhead summoned every ounce of her saucy nature on this defiant breakup track.

Strange, talk about luck / I woke up and the sun was shining / Strange, I ought to be in bed / With my head in the pillow crying /Over us, but I ain’t / Ain’t love
strange.

McEntire continued that momentum with “Consider Me Gone”. Written by Steve Diamond and Marv Green, the follow-up single spent four weeks atop the Hot Country Songs chart. It marks her longest run at number one ever, and was her first time at that spot since 2004’s “Somebody”.

In February 2010, McEntire released the title track—co-written by Ronnie Dunn—as the album’s final single.

[RELATED: Reba McEntire Inspired One of Brooks & Dunn’s Biggest Hits]

It, too, became a top 10 hit, peaking at number seven on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Featured image by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

The post On the Charts 17 Years Ago Today, Reba McEntire Made Country Music History When She Broke This Record Previously Held by Loretta Lynn appeared first on American Songwriter.