Reba McEntire News

Reba McEntire's new "Love Revival" will be sold exclusively at Hallmark Gold Crown stores in January and February, making the country singer the latest in a string of top artists to release albums through the retailer.

Josh Groban, Michael Buble and Martina McBride have put out Valentine's Day sets, while George Strait, Michael McDonald and James Taylor have done Christmas releases. Barry Manilow's "In the Swing of Christmas" is currently available at the independently owned stores.

McEntire was eager to participate, but there was a hitch.

"I said, 'I'd love to,"' she recalled, "but the problem is, I didn't have that many love songs that I've recorded during my 31-year career, believe it or not."

The album contains four songs recorded exclusively for Hallmark, among them a version of country act Restless Heart's 1987 No. 1 single "I'll Still Be Loving You." "That's one of my all-time favorite songs," McEntire said.

Also included are three songs -- "Bad for My Own Good," "With You I Am" and "Big Blue Sky" -- that McEntire had considered, but never wound up using, for previous projects.

The set also includes McEntire's 1993 duet with Vince Gill, "The Heart Won't Lie," which spent two weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. The title cut is an amped-up gospel-style piano thumper that first appeared on her 2003 set "Room to Breathe." "Somebody," a 2004 No. 1, is also included.

At the 3,700 Hallmark Gold Crown stores nationwide, "Love Revival" will be priced at $7.95 with the purchase of three Hallmark cards.

McEntire's last release, "Reba Duets," opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in September.

Reuters/Billboard