Reba McEntire has been confirmed to join the line-up of coaches that will preside over season 24 of The Voice.
The country legend will join fellow mentors John Legend, Gwen Stefani, and Niall Horan on the series, with McEntire replacing departing coach Blake Shelton. She took part in the program in season 23 as a “mega mentor,” while she has appeared on the show as an advisor on multiple occasions throughout its history.
“There’s a new Coach in town,” she wrote on Twitter. “See you all this Fall!” The star was previously approached to join the show before its first season aired in 2011.
“It’s always a lot of fun to give advice because I study people when they perform, and I wanna be touched when they’re singing to me,” McEntire said on the show last year. In a clip she shared on Instagram, she could be seen telling a contestant: “You really touched my heart. That’s the biggest thing — to capture someone in the audience to where they’re sobbing or laughing. Get some emotion out of them, and you did it for me.”
An exact premiere date for The Voice season 24 is yet to be announced by NBC, but it is expected to air in the fall in its usual time slots.
In October, McEntire will release a new album – Not That Fancy, on October 6 – and publish a tie-in book, Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating and Dusting Off Your Boots. The latter will be published on October 10 and will form a collection of the icon’s humorous, poignant, and deeply personal stories, photos, lifestyle tips, and recipes.
The 14-track album will feature a recently-released acoustic version of “If You See Him/If You See Her,” which McEntire originally recorded with Brooks & Dunn in 1998. She reunited with the duo on the new version 25 years after they scored a No.1 hit together with the track.
Buy or stream “If You See Him/If You See Her.”