Reba McEntire knew Taylor Swift was 'gonna be a huge star' when she first heard her sing live in 2007

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: When 18-year-old Taylor Swift took the stage at the 2007 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards to perform her debut single 'Tim McGraw', few could have predicted she would become the global superstar she is today.

But country legend Reba McEntire was astonished by the young singer-songwriter's poise and confidence, telling NBC on TikTok in a recent interview that she leaned over to her husband at the time and predicted, “This girl’s gonna be a huge star,” according to CinemaBlend.

Reba McEntire recalls Taylor Swift's live performance at 2007 CMA awards

Clad in a simple white dress with her acoustic guitar, a fresh-faced Swift walked down the CMA stage stairs while boldly singing her ode to one of the country's biggest stars. Unbeknownst to the audience, Tim McGraw himself was seated in the front row next to his wife, Faith Hill.

"The very first time I ever heard Taylor sing live was on the CMA Awards. She was singing ‘Tim McGraw', playing a guitar. Tim and Faith were in the front row,” McEntire marveled and added, “She walked down the steps looking right at Tim McGraw singing, and I'm like, ‘This girl's gonna be a huge star.’”

McEntire was astonished not only by Swift's vocal talent and skillful guitar playing but also by her confidence to stare down her idol mid-performance. “Number one: to walk, sing, walk downstairs at your icon that you're really wanting to sing to and impress without a flaw. I mean, I was impressed,” she told NBC.

Taylor Swift went from being unknown teenager to global music sensation

At the time, Swift was a relatively unknown teenager who had learned guitar and started writing deeply personal country songs as a hobby before being discovered at a local music night. She struggled to gain traction early on, with many radio stations declining to play her first single due to her young age, as per Entertainment Weekly.

But the relentless songstress believed in herself and pushed forward, eventually earning a record deal in Nashville. Her self-titled debut studio album dropped in 2006, over a year before her scene-stealing CMA performance.

Fueled by critically acclaimed hits like 'Teardrops on My Guitar' and 'Our Song', Swift's namesake album went on to become the longest-charting album of the 2000s, as reported by BBC.

The rest is history. 16 years, 10 studio albums, over 200 million records sold, and countless awards later, Swift has ascended into the pop culture stratosphere as a household name whom McEntire astutely predicted was destined for greatness.