Reba McEntire shared a throwback reel on Instagram on Monday (July 17), reflecting on her cover of a Beyoncé hit more than a decade ago. McEntire released her version of “If I Were A Boy” in 2010, on her All The Women I Am album.
Beyoncé released the track in 2008 on I Am… Sasha Fierce studio album: “If I were a boy/ I think I could understand/ How it feels to love a girl/ I swear I'd be a better man/ I’d listen to her/ ‘Cause I know how it hurts/ When you lose the one you wanted/ ‘Cause he's taken you for granted/ And everything you had got destroyed.”
Though McEntire said in a 2019 interview with Billboard that she “didn’t feel real good about” releasing the cover as a single (after performing it for Unplugged on CMT in 2010), her social media followers gushed over her version. Some commenters wrote, “Queen Reba showing homage to queen Bey….. icons supporting icons, legends supporting legends etc and so forth,” “Wow, so stunning,” and “I love this cover! ❤️,” among others.
McEntire said in her 2019 Billboard interview that she “stands for quality, integrity, honesty, entertainment, comfort. Everything I do, it has to be honest. The fans know when it goes a little left or right or not the way I would want it. We try new things, we experiment, and we keep going back to what is true.”
Listen to both versions of “If I Were A Boy” below.