Rumor Has It (Reba McEntire album)

Rumor Has It is the sixteenth studio album by American country music artist Reba McEntire. It was released on September 4, 1990, by MCA Records. The album continued her streak of success and features one of her signature songs, a cover of Bobbie Gentry’s 1969 hit "Fancy", of which CMT ranked at No. 27 on its list of the 100 Greatest Country Songs in 2003. Additionally, they ranked the video at No. 35 on their list of 100 Greatest Country Videos. "Fancy" wasn't one of McEntire's larger radio hits, despite its acclaim. It peaked outside of the Top 5 at No. 8. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard country album chart and No. 39 on the Billboard 200, becoming her first album to enter the mainstream top 40. It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA. Rumor Has It was McEntire's first collaboration with record producer Tony Brown.

The album also contained a TV theme song - though not the last TV theme song McEntire would record. The track "Climb That Mountain High" was featured in the opening credits of an early 1990s ABC sitcom called Delta starring Delta Burke, who played an aspiring country singer. Reba also made a guest appearance on the short-lived sitcom.

Both "You Lie" and "Waitin' For the Deal to Go Down" were previously recorded by country singer Cee Cee Chapman on her 1988 album Twist of Fate, and the latter was covered in 1992 by the short-lived country music band Dixiana on their self-titled album. Their version was released as a single that year, peaking at #39 on the country charts.

The album debuted at #17 on the Billboard Top Country Albums for the week of September 29, 1990, and jumped to number 3 the next week then peaked at #2 the next week. The album stayed in the Top 10 for 26 weeks.

A 30th Anniversary Edition of the album was released on September 11, 2020, and includes two bonus tracks: a new remix of "Fancy" by Dave Audé and a live version of "Fancy" recorded at the Ryman Auditorium in 2020.

Personnel

 * Reba McEntire – lead and backing vocals
 * John Barlow Jarvis – keyboards
 * Matt Rollings – keyboards
 * Kirk Cappello – synthesizers
 * Steve Gibson – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, mandolin
 * Dann Huff – electric guitar
 * Steve Fishell – steel guitar
 * Michael Rhodes – bass guitar
 * Edgar Meyer – double bass
 * Larrie Londin – drums
 * Bob Bailey – backing vocals
 * Kim Fleming – backing vocals
 * Vince Gill – backing vocals
 * Vicki Hampton – backing vocals
 * Yvonne Hodges – backing vocals
 * Pamela Quillon – backing vocals
 * Harry Stinson – backing vocals
 * Paula Kaye Wallace – backing vocals
 * Suzy Wills – backing vocals

Production

 * Tony Brown – producer
 * Reba McEntire – producer
 * John Guess – recording, mixing, mastering
 * Marty Williams – second engineer
 * Milan Bogdan – digital editing
 * Glenn Meadows – mastering
 * Jessie Noble – project coordinator