Don’t expect a powerhouse like Reba to stay in her country bubble all the time.
Reba McEntire has covered a variety of pop songs during her concerts, adding her signature Southern twist to many songs outside of the genre. Some of her most popular covers include songs like Beyoncé’s “If I Were a Boy” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.”
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Recently, McEntire added to her list of left-field covers with a rendition of Dua Lipa’s hit “Don’t Start Now.”
The country singer has now included this song in her setlist at least twice: Once in February at the Florida Strawberry Festival, and again at RodeoHouston.
A video of the first performance garnered almost 400,000 views and mixed responses, with some saying that the song choice didn’t sound McEntire’s voice, or that she should “stick to country.”
But her loyal fans came to her defense.
“Y’all better leave Reba ALONE in these comments!!!!! Let my girl have fun!” says one.
“There are two QUEENS in country that you don’t mess with. Reba is one and the other is Dolly!” gushes another.
Some social media jokesters even had some fun with their approval of her performance.
“Oh I just KNOW she rolls the windows down and speeds 5MPH over the limit to this song down a country road,” opines one TikTok user.
“Dang y’all hating on a single mom who’s working two jobs just trying to have fun at her first job ” quips another, referencing the lyrics to McEntire’s hit, “I’m a Survivor.”
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Several users said in the comments section of the post that they heard McEntire put this cover in context during the show, explaining that she and Lipa are friends.
The country queen has also covered Elton John’s “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues” and Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” adding her country spin to both, of course. So, this is definitely not the first and won’t be the last time she brings a “non country” song to her fanbase.
Lipa’s not a total stranger to country music, either. She dabbled in a Western sound in “Sweet Kisses,” her Kacey Musgraves collaboration.
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Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
