Reba's McEntire’s kids have announced the awful news

She’s an American musician and actress with three Grammy wins (and 17 nominations) under her belt and more than 75 million records sold worldwide has made a name for herself in music and Hollywood history. Nonetheless, while the world knows her as a phenomenal singer, Reba McEntire’s son, Shelby Blackstock knows her as a “mom”.

Throughout her career, the new The Voice judge, McEntire has spoken about her evolvement as a parent and the relationship she shares with her son, of which she shares with her ex-husband, Narvel Blackstock. For the Oprah Winfrey Network, in 2012, McEntire did a video, discussing her parental style in comparison to her parents in discussion of Shelby.

She said, “It is very important to pass down what I’ve been taught to Shelby. I have learned—some things, maybe a softer way of doing it, or maybe a more effective way, maybe a more modern way of doing things and teaching, but I have raised Shelby, a lot of the same ways Momma has raised us kids.” The video shows older pictures of McEntire with a young Shelby, which feel nostalgic to the more recent pictures of the mother and son duo.

Even though McEntire only carries one biological son, from her two marriages, she is still close with some of her former step-children. When she was married to Charlie Battles, a marriage that lasted from 1976 to 1987, she was the stepmother to Coty and Lance Battles. The two keep very private lives away from the private eye. From her marriage with Blackstock, a marriage that lasted from 1989 to 2015, McEntire was the stepmother to three of Blackstock’s children: Brandon, Chassidy, and Shawna Blackstock.