reba

Reba McEntire admits she is 'broken hearted' after paying tribute to eight friends who died in 1991

Reba referenced a line from her song For My Broken Heart

Rebecca Lewis - Los Angeles
Los Angeles correspondentLos Angeles
March 17, 2022

Reba McEntire has paid tribute to the eight members of her band who died in 1991.

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The singer shared that she still had a "broken heart", 31 years after road manager Jim Hammon, keyboardist and bandleader Kirk Cappello, fellow keyboardist Joey Cigainero, drummer Tony Saputo, guitarists Michael Thomas and Chris Austin, bassist Terry Jackson and backup singer Paula Kaye Evans, and two pilots, Donald Holmes and Christopher Hollinger, died when their plane crashed in Michigan.

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"Once again, the world doesn’t stop for my broken heart," she posted on Facebook along with a picture of the eight crew members.

She had previously shared in her autobiography that her team had leased two jets for traveling between shows but that on 15 March 1991 she wasn't feeling well and chose to fly the next day.

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Her private pilot, Roger Woolsey, then called her at 2am to tell her that he had been driving back from the airport when he saw a ball of fire in the mirror, and knew the plane had crashed; it later emerged that the jet’s left wing hit part of Otay Mountain causing the plane to crash.

"I didn’t know if it was God’s way of jerking my chain, saying slow down," the 66-year-old recently shared with fans during an appearance on Apple Music Country.

Reba shared the heartache with fans 

"I’m not going to put that on him. It just happened. I don’t know why. Things happen for a reason. That’s one of the questions I’m asking when I get up there.

"But afterward, it made us really focus on day by day, instead of what are we going to do tomorrow? What are we going to do next year? Don’t even think about the past. Don’t even think about the future. Focus on the day that you have and enjoy it while you have it."

"She was very close to all of them (the band members). Some of them had been with her for years,” said Jennifer Bohler, spokesperson for Reba at the time.

"Reba is totally devastated by this. It’s like losing part of your family. Right now she just wants to get back to Nashville."

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