Country Hall of Fame inducts Reba

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Reba McEntire’s career r sum has a little bit of everything: songbird, actress, entrepreneur, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Add another: Country Music Hall of Fame member.

Songwriter Bobby Braddock and another pioneering female singer, Jean Shepard, join McEntire as the hall’s newest members.

The 2011 inductees were introduced Tuesday morning at a news conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

McEntire is an enduring icon who is more popular than ever after three dozen years in the business. The 55-year-old was declared country music’s top-female hitmaker long ago and remains a dynamo, selling more than 55 million albums and recently scoring her 35th No. 1 hit.

The fiery redhead has carved out an enviable and unique career that goes far beyond music. She’s had her own television show. She stormed Broadway in “Annie Get Your Gun.” And she is a role model as both an artist and a businesswoman for a wave of young female stars who are following the example she set in a career defined by hard work and an independent streak.

McEntire, Shepard and Braddock will be formally inducted later this year.