November 11, 2008

By By Ken Tucker, Nashville

Country superstar Reba McEntire has ended her 25-year association with MCA Nashville and signed with the Valory Music Co. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The move reunites 2007 Billboard Woman of the Year McEntire with Scott Borchetta, now president and CEO of Big Machine Records and the Valory Music Co. Borchetta was senior VP of promotion at MCA Nashville during most of the '90s.

"I am thrilled to be joining the Valory team," McEntire says. "Scott and I worked together on some of the biggest singles of my career, and I am excited to renew our partnership."

"It is as if a day hasn't even passed," Borchetta adds. "The toughest thing about leaving MCA Nashville again was leaving behind this relationship that I value so much."

The announcement comes roughly a year after the launch of Valory. The label is home to Jewel, Emerson Drive and Jimmy Wayne, among others. Sister label Big Machine is home to Taylor Swift, Trisha Yearwood and Jack Ingram, among others. Both labels are distributed by Universal Music Distribution.

McEntire's debut single on Valory will ship to country radio in early spring 2009, with her new studio album to follow later that summer. The artist crowned her MCA tenure with a three-disc boxed set, "50 Greatest Hits," released late last month.

McEntire has sold 28.4 million albums since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.

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