In 1991, Reba McEntire faced a tragic loss when her tour manager and seven band members died in a plane crash. After performing in San Diego on March 16, 1991, the band planned to fly to Fort Wayne, Indiana, while Reba, her manager, and her stylist stayed behind. Tragically, the plane crashed ten miles east of the airport.
In a 2012 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Reba recounted the event, explaining, “Everyone in the plane died when the wing of the plane struck a boulder on the edge of Otay Mountain.” Reba’s manager, Narvel Blackstock, informed her of the crash early in the morning, leading to a night of uncertainty and grief.
Close friends, including Vince Gill and Dolly Parton, supported Reba, but she chose to channel her grief into her album “For My Broken Heart,” a tribute to her lost bandmates. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and sold four million copies.
Each year, Reba honors the anniversary of the tragedy on social media. In 2016, she visited the crash site, sharing, “I couldn’t help but feel that those who have passed on are aware of how much we miss them.”
