When Reba McEntire steps onto the stage as host of the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards on May 16, she said she looks forward to hearing the “roar of the crowd.”

The country music superstar isn’t just emceeing the awards show for the 17th time — more than any other artist — she’s doing so nearly 30 years after she took home the top prize of entertainer of the year in 1995.

“It was a wonderful night,” McEntire reminisced in a new interview with “Good Morning America” ahead of her hosting gig at the 59th ACM Awards. “I was shocked. Thrilled.”

“You worked so hard to put on the best show possible, and when I won that, it just gave [me] the enthusiasm and the [positivity to say], ‘They like what I’m doing, so let’s continue on and do more,'” she added.

Reba McEntire is seen at the 30th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, May 10, 1995.
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The crowd will certainly be on its feet when the Grammy winner takes to the ACM Awards stage to perform her new single “I Can’t,” which she teased as “a big production.”

“I just saw my outfit yesterday. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I can’t wait to have it,” she said. “So, I’m really excited about it.”

McEntire described “I Can’t” as “a very strong woman song” that has a lot of the “swampy-type minors” she loves to sing.

“It’s a little different from anything I’ve done in a while,” she said. “So I hope everybody enjoys it.”

Reflecting on her career, specifically people telling her she couldn’t do something, McEntire said that’s something that has always fueled her.

“I’ve had that all my life,” she said. “And I’m so glad they did, because that just gave me the determination to do it.”

Reba McEntire performs the national anthem prior to Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas.
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As for what she looks for when choosing new music to put out, McEntire said it’s always “something different that will grab my heart, because if I love it and it touches my heart when I sing it and I do my job right, it’ll touch your heart.”

The “I’m a Survivor” singer said she’s looking forward to meeting new talent like Megan Moroney at the ACM Awards and also praised Beyoncé for “surprising” her with her choices on her recent country-inspired “Cowboy Carter” album.

“It reminded me more of the really, really old country music instead of like the ’80s and ’90s country music,” she said, referring to “Cowboy Carter.” “It was very interesting to me the era she chose to go into for country music.”

The 59th Academy of Country Music Awards will stream live on Amazon’s Prime Video on Thursday, May 16, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.