Flashback: Reba McEntire Causes a Stir With Revealing Red Dress
When country superstar Reba McEntire recorded the 1993 duet “Does He Love You” with Linda Davis, the dramatic tune about a romantic triangle became a smash hit. Penned by Sandy Knox and Billy Stritch, the song also spawned a memorable music video directed by Rob Reiner, who had also recently directed McEntire in the film North.
Although “Does He Love You” topped the charts (becoming Reba’s 18th Number One country hit) and won the two women a Grammy and a CMA award, those accomplishments began to pale in comparison to the attention McEntire received for the red-hot (emphasis on the “red” and “hot”) gown she wore while performing the single with Davis on the 1993 CMA Awards telecast.
McEntire’s Las Vegas-inspired live shows, complete with eye-popping outfits, were becoming commonplace for the singer, but up to that night in front of her Nashville peers (and a huge TV viewing audience) none of the stage costumes in the redhead’s closet would raise as many eyebrows (or temperatures) as the gown with the plunging neckline and well-placed sequins. Perhaps echoing the thoughts of many who were not accustomed to seeing Reba in such revealing attire, her father noted at the time that he thought she had the gown on…backwards.
In 2010, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum spotlighted several of McEntire’s stage outfits, including the silk and jersey gown designed by her stylist, Sandi Spika, in an exhibit appropriately titled “Reba McEntire: Put on Your Red Dress, Baby.”
Linda Davis, by the way, is mom to Lady Antebellum‘s Hillary Scott, who was a mere seven at the time this memorable performance took place.