CMT to Honor Reba McEntire with 'Artist of a Lifetime' Award

CMT has announced that country music icon Reba McEntire will be honored with the "Artist of a Lifetime" award presented by Ram Trucks at this year's "CMT Artists of the Year" event. The 10th annual celebration will air LIVE from Nashville's Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Wednesday, October 16 at 8pmET/PT. Reba will join the illustrious ranks alongside previous "Lifetime" recipients, including Loretta Lynn (2018), Shania Twain (2016), Kenny Rogers (2015), and Merle Haggard (2014).

"I have loved entertaining people since I was a little girl and after being in the music business more than 40 years, I'm still having so much fun! For CMT to recognize me as the 'Artist of A Lifetime' is pretty special," shared Reba.

This year marks a significant milestone for the "CMT Artists of the Year" special as it celebrates the decade-long anniversary of the live music franchise. The highly anticipated 90-minute event will pay tribute to the five "Artists of the Year" who collectively ruled the last 12 months in country music. This year's honorees include Carrie Underwood, Dan + Shay, Kane Brown, Luke Combs and Thomas Rhett, and will feature surprise musical pairings and guests.

Multi-media entertainment mogul Reba has become a household name through a successful career that spans across music, television, film, theater andretail. The Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame member has won 16 ACM, 15 American Music Awards, 9 People's Choice, 6 CMA, 3 GRAMMY®, GMA Dove Awards and2018 Kennedy Center Honors. Celebrating legendary women in Country Music ,she will join Dolly Parton and Carrie Underwood to host the 53rdAnnual CMA Awards November 13 at 8/7c live on the ABC Television Network. Reba marked her thirteenth summit as SING IT NOW: SONGS OF FAITH & HOPEtopped both the Billboard Country and Christian/Gospel charts, bolstering a successful record of 35 No. 1 singles and over 56 million albums sold worldwide. As co-producer alongside Buddy Cannon, she released STRONGER THAN THE TRUTHearlier this year on Big Machine Records. Her impressive catalogueis on display during the longest-running Country residency in The Colosseum at Caesars' history with REBA, BROOKS & DUNN:Together In Vegas. The Golden Globe®nominated actress has 11 movie credits, a Broadway lead and starred in the six-season sitcom Reba. Set to hit theaters December 25, Reba will join Fox Animation's Spies in Disguise. Launching partnerships with Dillard's and REBA by Justin™, she was also named the first female and musician to portray KFC's iconic founder in their celebrity colonelcampaign.

"CMT Artists of the Year" is executive produced by CMT's Margaret Comeaux and SwitchedOn Entertainment's John Hamlin; the Executives in Charge of Production are Jackie Barba and Heather D. Graffagnino. For more updates go to CMTAOTY.CMT.com, follow @CMT on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram andYouTube and use #CMTAOTY to join the conversation.