Reba McEntire’s ex-husband Narvel Blackstock married her old friend Laura Stroud in Nashville, a source exclusively tells In Touch.
Not much is known about Narvel, 67, and Laura’s romance, though they have been a “longtime” couple and she used to be close friends with the “I’m a Survivor” singer, 69. Additionally, the source tells In Touch that Reba and Narvel’s son, Shelby Blackstock, was at the wedding.
“Gwen [Stefani] and Blake [Shelton] were there,” the source adds. “It was at the Hermitage Nashville.” The “Austin” singer married the happy couple.
Reba and Narvel – who worked as her manager for many years – were married from 1989 until 2015. Following their split, the “Does He Love You” singer found love with boyfriend Rex Linn in 2020.
News of Narvel and Laura’s nuptials comes just one day after Reba admitted she was open to marrying Rex. “If that’s something he feels totally strong about, that’s fine with me,” she told E! News about their possible wedding in an interview published on Sunday, April 14. “He’s never been married before. So, if he wants to experience that, I’m OK with that.”
She jokingly said that she doesn’t “have much faith in being bound by a piece of paper or ring,” though insisted she is “truly committed to Rex.”
Reba added that she and Rex have been “pretty much inseparable ever since June 16 of 2020.” However, the couple first met in 1991 and reconnected when she guest starred on Young Sheldon in January 2020.
“It was just like a magnet,” she said about getting to spend time with Rex, 67, on set of the sitcom. “We didn’t get to see each other from January ’til June 16, but we created an intimacy by texting and talking over the telephone that we wouldn’t have gotten if we’d have been together all of that time.”
While it’s been nearly a decade since her split from Narvel, Reba recently opened up about their relationship when she appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show in March.
“I think it works for some people. They can be married or have a relationship and work together. Our work was all the time,” she said at the time. “Our marriage was 26 years. We started out working together in the band. He was part of the band, and then became my manager, later on then my husband, but it was a situation that was always business — whether we were getting ready in the morning, pillow talk, whatever, but it was business.”
Reba added that they never took a break from discussing her career, even when they took trips together. “Even when we were on vacation to recharge the batteries, about three days into a vacation it was like, ‘You know what we can do?’” she recalled.
In addition to Shelby, Narvel is also father to son Brandon Blackstock who was famously married to Kelly Clarkson. The former couple’s children, River Rose and Remington, were in attendance for their grandfather’s wedding.
