Blake Shelton and Reba McEntire share a connection beyond both just appearing on The Voice. Shelton's longtime manager Narvel Blackstock is also McEntire's ex-husband.
So it makes a certain amount of sense that Shelton acted as officiant for Blackstock's marriage. Blackstock married his longtime girlfriend Laura Stroud. Based upon the pictures taken by McEntire's daughter-in-law Marissa, it doesn't appear the country singer attended the wedding.
However, Shelton and his wife Gwen Stefani did celebrate the festivities. Likewise, Kelly Clarkson's children were also in attendance.
McEntire and Blackstock have stayed amicable over the years, but it no longer appears that McEntire is close with Stroud as she once was. Previously, she explained that the two didn't know how to separate work from their romance and family life.
Photo via Instagram
Reba McEntire Talks Divorce
It led to their marriage being "a situation that was always business."
"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 via Yahoo News. "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."
She said the two couldn't even enjoy a vacation without talking shop. It became exhausting. 'You know what we can do?'" she recalled. The two married in 1989 but split in 2015. They announced their split via a statement: "Despite this being the end of their marriage, they continue to support each other. They have worked together for 35 years and will continue to do so."
McEntire herself has moved on as well. She's currently dating Rex Linn. "It was just like a magnet," she said of even when they're apart. "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."
"If that's something he feels totally strong about, that's fine with me," she said of getting married again. "He's never been married before. So, if he wants to experience that, I'm OK with that." Even if they don't get married, McEntire said she's "truly committed to Rex."
