From the moment you hear the voice, you know it: fierce and powerful, clear and passionate, a voice that has sold 49 million records, a voice that could belong to no one else but the woman millions of fans the world over know only as Reba. So what do you do when you're the owner of that iconic voice -- and the embodiment of a genre-bending artistic presence that spans the worlds of music, screen and stage? If you're Reba McEntire, you find creative soul mates in 11 other amazing voices and produce a groundbreaking collection of music simply titled Reba Duets. Or, as McEntire herself might describe it, you gather up some friends old and new, and have a party - oh, and make an amazing new album at the same time. "It was like a family reunion. It was just so much fun!" says the easygoing superstar. And the results? "Well, I'm just so tickled!" she says with her trademark Southern charm. "I can't wait for everyone to hear it." Duets was a long time coming, says McEntire. "You have to keep creating things, thinking about what's next and how to keep it fresh for your fans," she says. "I've always thought a duets album would be a great thing to get to do, and the timing was finally right to make it happen."

Country music queen Reba McEntire sounds like she feels at home with a variety of big-name artists, who wisely adapt to her style rather than making her stretch to accommodate them. Perhaps the biggest surprise is her duet with Justin Timberlake on "The Only Promise That Remains," which he wrote for her as an acoustic ballad far removed from most of the music he makes on his own. The power balladry of "Because of You" receives the full diva treatment in its teaming of McEntire with Kelly Clarkson, while Carole King adds some pop buoyancy to "Everyday People" (not the Sly and the Family Stone classic). LeAnn Rimes pays trans-generational homage with opener "When You Love Someone Like That" (which also closes Rimes’ recent Family as a bonus cut). "Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma," a duet with Ronnie Dunn, finds the pair writing as well as singing together, and Vince Gill offers his "These Broken Hearts" for the duet treatment. Faith Hill and Reba wring high drama from "Sleeping with the Telephone," which humanizes the war from the perspective of a soldier’s wife whose husband is overseas. --Don McLeese