Reba McEntire & Melissa Peterman Singing "I'm a Survivor" A Cappella Is a Triumph
A Happy's Place taping proved no one can resist an opportunity to sing the Queen of Country's famous lyrics.
Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman can basically finish each other’s sentences — even through song. The Happy’s Place and former Reba co-stars, who’ve been besties for decades, showcased how in sync they are when they sang an impromptu, a cappella version of the Queen of Country’s iconic 2001 song “I’m a Survivor.”
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During a taping of Season 1, Episode 12 (“Baby Doll”) of NBC’s Happy’s Place, Gabby (Peterman) gets an AI baby doll to see how she’ll feel about motherhood while Bobbie (McEntire) and Isabella (Belissa Escobedo) assure her that she has the instincts to be a great mom. As Gabby realizes they’re right, she also accepts that she’ll be a single mom on her journey to parenthood.
“Bobbie, my tips,” she calls out at the end of the scene, adding with a smile, “I’m gonna need those. I’m gonna be a single mom...” While the episode ends with Isabella responding with a clever callback to McEntire’s song — “You might wanna get two jobs,” she says — a behind-the-scenes clip from the taping shows all three women singing the infamous lyrics together.
“... who works two jobs. Who loves her kids and never stops. With gentle hands and a heart of a fighter. I’m a survivor.”
As the theme song for McEntire’s beloved sitcom Reba, fans were overwhelmed to hear this a cappella version of “I’m a Survivor” by the actresses behind Reba Hart and Barbra Jean.
“Love how Reba didn’t miss a beat with that,” one fan commented on the clip on Instagram, while another added, “The nostalgia is real.”
“This was the BEST part of the taping! Loved how you all had that up your sleeves,” one more said.
Fans also got a kick out of how Peterman recreated a Lion King scene when she held the fake baby like Simba over Pride Rock. One said it “just made a cherry on top of an already great moment.”
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This, of course, was not the first time McEntire and Peterman sang “I’m a Survivor” together. During a 2018 concert in Ontario, Canada, Peterman virtually joined McEntire on-stage to perform the iconic song. And way back in 2010 at a concert in Buffalo, New York, Peterman, sprinted on stage and swapped some hilarious banter with McEntire before asking her to sing the Reba theme song together.
Whether “I’m a Survivor” has gone so viral on TikTok that she’s even joined the trend or she’s singing the song on Happy’s Place, McEntire loves it all. “I love seeing how much it's connected with people throughout the years,” McEntire said of "I'm a Survivor" on TikTok. “That's the power of a great song!”
Watch Happy’s Place on Fridays at 8/7c on NBC. New episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
