Red Steagall was at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City when he heard a 19-year-old woman with red hair perform a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that he knew wouldn’t forget anytime soon.
In fact, 50 years later, he still hasn’t forgotten it.
“I listened to this young lady sing the national anthem, and it just blew me away,” Steagall, a country music singer-songwriter, recently told The Washington Post . “I had never heard that kind of voice before.”
That brief December 1974 performance ended up being one of those right-time, right-place moments for Reba McEntire . A year later she landed a record deal, which Steagall helped her negotiate, and two years after that, she released her debut album, per The Washington Post .
Now, in somewhat of a full-circle moment, McEntire has sung the national anthem on one of the biggest stages of her career — the Super Bowl.
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