Reba McEntire is using her new song, “Seven Minutes in Heaven,” as a way of connecting with fans over some of life’s most bittersweet moments.
The song finds McEntire wondering what she’d do if she could make a quick trip to the afterlife. Not even the singer’s musical heroes like Johnny Cash or Elvis Presley would get her attention during a trip this short: She’d need to save up every second for the one special person she wants to see the most.
Of course, that’s McEntire’s mother Jacqueline, who died in March 2020 at 93 years old.
Since she released the song and its accompanying music video, McEntire’s fans have been putting out their own videos set to “Seven Minutes in Heaven,” focusing on the late loved ones they’re yearning to see again most.
The singer’s seen all those tributes, and she wanted to participate: On social media, McEntire recently shared a montage of photos of her and her mom together.
“I’ve been so touched seeing all the videos y’all have been making using ‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’ in dedication to your loved ones. I dedicated this song to my mama,” she explains in the caption. “She took a trip to heaven in 2020 and I’ve give anything to visit her up there for seven minutes.”
The clip takes fans through McEntire’s family, starting with her young childhood: We see a black-and-white photo of a preschool-aged McEntire posing with her mom. As the years continue, both McEntire and her mom get older — but they’ve still got the same obvious love for each other in the photographs through the years.
McEntire also put a spotlight on her mom in the “Seven Minutes in Heaven” music video, with McEntire showing up at a corner booth in heaven for a special, long-awaited reunion with her mom. Though Jacqueline’s face is never shown directly in the clip, it’s clear from the build and hair of the woman sitting across the table from McEntire that it’s her mom she’s thinking about as she sings.
“This one was an emotional one to film, but I’m sure glad we did,” the singer wrote on social media when the video first came out.
“Seven Minutes in Heaven” comes off the tracklist of McEntire’s Not That Fancy album, a companion to her book of the same title. The project primarily consists of a series of revisited hits, including stripped down versions of “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” “Fancy” and “Consider Me Gone.”
See Reba McEntire Through the Years:
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