Reba McEntire and her boyfriend Rex Linn shared a date night at the 94th Academy Awards.
The country superstar and the CSI actor were all smiles as they walked the red carpet on Sunday evening (Mar. 27).
McEntire, donning an emerald green sequin dress, and Linn, wearing a black suit, entered the coveted awards ceremony hand in hand.
McEntire will take the stage during the Academy Awards to perform “Somehow You Do,” a track nominated for Best Original Song from the film, Four Good Days. “Somehow You Do” was written by 13-time Academy Award nominee Diane Warren.
The performance will mark McEntire’s first time on the Oscars stage in 31-years. She last took the stage in 1991 when she filled in for Meryl Streep to perform “I’m Checkin’ Out” another Warren penned track, from the movie, Postcards from the Edge, which was nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars that same year.
Leading up to the Oscars, McEntire and Linn had dinner at The Mistral, an elegant French Bistro in California, with 3rd Rock from the Sun actor John Lithgow and his wife Mary Lithgow.
“Continuing our amazing Oscar week! Started out with having dinner with new friends for me,” McEntire wrote alongside a photo of her, Linn and The Lithgow’s. “Old friends for Rex. Thanks, John and Mary for meeting us in the valley.”
When Did Reba McEntire & Rex Linn First Get Together & How Did They Meet?
The hitmaker and award-winning actor first began dating in 2020, but have known each other for more than 30-years. The beloved couple first met on the set of The Gambler Returns: The Luck Of The Draw, in 1991.
During a recent interview on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, McEntire revealed how she first met Linn.
“I met him in 1991 when we were doing the Kenny Rogers movie, The Gambler.” McEntire explained. “We were both on that in 1991 and we’ve kept in contact with each other over the years and we both know the same people. So it was just like good friends getting back together having dinner in January, then we started texting and talking on the telephone getting to know each other better during the quarantine.”
McEntire first let fans into their relationship during an episode of her new Spotify podcast, Living & Learning With Reba McEntire. Joined by her longtime friend Melissa Peterman, the two talked “dating” in the specific episode where she revealed that her and Linn are dating.
“I am [dating], a very, very sweetheart of a guy, Rex Linn and we’ve been talking during the pandemic,” McEntire said in the podcast. “We had dinner with Rex in, what was it in, January?”
Linn is best known as both a TV and film actor, known for roles in shows such as CSI: Miami, JAG and Better Call Saul. He also stars in the popular series Young Sheldon, which McEntire made a special appearance on in 2020.