Carrie Underwood made a surprise appearance at the Grand Ole Opry to help Reba McEntire celebrate the 40th anniversary of her Opry debut.

Friday night (September 22, 2017) was jam-packed with surprises for those in attendance at the Grand Ole Opry. In addition to the already impressive artist line-up that included Reba McEntire and Vince Gill, Dolly Parton and Carrie Underwood showed up to surprise Reba and help her celebrate the 40th anniversary of her Grand Ole Opry debut.

During the night’s second sold-out show, Reba began singing her 1993 hit song “Does He Love You,” originally performed alongside Linda Davis. Underwood casually walked onto the stage to sing the second part, much to the surprise and delight of the audience.

Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire sing together at the Grand Ole Opry. Photo credit: Grand Ole Opry/Facebook

Underwood was as thrilled about sharing the stage with McEntire as the audience. The “Jesus, Take The Wheel” singer took to Instagram to share her excitement and photos of the memorable night.

“How is this my life?,” Underwood captioned a series of pictures. “I got to be part of this crew celebrating @reba ‘s 40th anniversary of her first @opry appearance! Three legends…and me!!! So many dreams came true tonight!”

Reba, Dolly Parton, Underwood, and Vince Gill were all smiles in another photo that Carrie captioned, “Pretty sure we’re all besties now.”

History of “Does He Love You”

“Does He Love You” was a song written by Sandy Knox and Billy Stritch after the latter suggested they pen a tune that two women could sing. Stritch was part of a trio with two women who featured the song in their sets and found that audiences loved it.

The song was pitched to Barbara Mandrell, Liza Minelli, and others before it landed in front of Reba 13 years after it was first written.

Rumor has it that Reba wanted her background singer, Linda Davis, to sing “Does He Love You” with her all along. But Reba’s then-manager and husband, Narvel Blackstock, thought that audiences would rather hear Reba duet with someone like Wynonna or Trisha Yearwood who were bigger names in the industry.

Reba McEntire and Linda Davis perform on stage together. Photo credit: Linda Davis/Instagram

After Wynonna declined the invitation to record the song, Reba enlisted Linda Davis. The two recorded the track and it was playing on country radio within 6 weeks of Reba first hearing it, according to Knox.

“Does He Love You” went on to win the Grammy award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration, a CMA Award for Vocal Event of the Year, and a TNN/Music City News award for Best Vocal Collaboration.

In 2021, nearly three decades after the song was first released, Reba re-recorded the track with Dolly Parton for McEntire’s thirty-fourth studio album, Revived Remixed Revisited.

Watch Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire singing “Does He Love You” at the Opry in the video below.