Reba McEntire, the popular country singer, knows loss well. Seven band members and her tour manager died in a 1991 plane crash during a concert.
It was momentous when Reba and her band performed at a private San Diego gathering on March 16, 1991. Two planes were waiting at Brown Field Municipal Airport to take the band to their next concert in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Reba, her then-husband and manager Narvel Blackstock, and her stylist Sandi Spika lingered in San Diego for the night after the band and tour manager left. They didn’t realize the terrible turn of events.
Reba recounted the heartbreaking events in a 2012 Oprah Winfrey interview. Unfortunately, the first plane crashed 10 miles east of the airport, while the second flew safely.
“The plane’s wing clipped a boulder on the edge of Otay Mountain, claiming the lives of everyone aboard,” Reba emotionally told Oprah. When we heard the news, Narvel approached our pilot and told him the terrible news.
“Narvel returned to the hotel room where I was, late into the night, and shared the news that one of the planes had crashed,” Reba said. I inquired, ‘Are they OK?’ He hesitantly said, ‘I don’t think so.’ The uncertainty was excruciating.”
Reba said they anticipated more details regarding the tragedy. “Narvel visited each room with a phone, making calls,” she hesitated, frightened. “I’m sorry—it’s been 20 years, but the pain never goes away,” she said. “But I can still see that moment—Narvel pacing back and forth.”
Friends like Vince Gill and Dolly Parton donated their bands to assist Reba finish the tour despite tremendous pain. Reba declined and honored her band members with For My Broken Heart, her next album. She sold over four million copies of her No. 1 Billboard Top Country Albums debut, dedicated to her lost loved ones.
Reba honors the victims every year on the anniversary of the tragedy. To mark the crash anniversary, she posted on Instagram in 2014. On the 25th anniversary in 2016, she traveled to San Diego and shared her experience with her fans on social media.
Reba commented, “The plane accident occurred 25 years ago today. I returned to San Diego last November and took a helicopter to the disaster site. I think they know we miss them. I send my thoughts and prayers to all impacted families and friends.”
Join Reba McEntire in honoring her band mates’ lives and legacy.
