Kelly and Reba: Country's Curious Couple

9/19/2007 Stephen L. Betts Kelly Clarkson says Reba McEntire is “the light at the end of the tunnel.” In a feature for USA Today, Reba’s duet partner (on “Because of You,” a smash solo pop hit for Kelly) reasons, “It's good for every young singer to have somebody they can model their careers after." Calling it “one of pop music's most curious couplings — the 52-year-old country music matriarch and the original American Idol who's less than half her age,” USA Today’s Brian Mansfield says Reba and Kelly friendship could benefit both artists. The first artist to pair with Reba for the just-released Reba Duets disc, the two initially sang together in 2002, performing Reba’s 1993 hit “Does He Love You” on a postseason American Idol special. The relationship really clicked during a February taping of CMT Crossroads. Although the pair had already recorded a song for Reba Duets, Reba’s husband and manager, Narvel Blackstock, heard them rehearsing “Because of You,” and, according to Reba, Narvel insisted they record that song too. With Kelly’s pop career in jeopardy – a cancelled arena tour, criticism of record-label head Clive Davis and mixed reviews and disappointing sales for her album My December - in July, she hired Narvel, who shares her hometown of Burleson, Texas, as her manager. "When you're hanging out together, you talk about the business," Reba says. "She would ask me my opinion, and I'd always say, 'The best advice I can give you is go ask Narvel.' So she did." With Reba receiving her first CMA Female Vocalist of the Year nomination in three years, Kelly may have helped boost her idol’s career as well.