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But don't for a minute think that this spunky redhead is ready to rest on her laurels.
"If you want to stay in the running with everyone -- because it's very competitive -- you can't let your mind wander or fantasize.
"You have to stay grounded. If you don't you'll get consumed by your own ego and that will be your downfall," says McEntire, who plays the Saddledome on Saturday.
"Maintaining (a career) is probably harder than getting there."
The 44-year-old says motherhood and her family life help keep her from getting caught in the stardom trap.
If a show is only a two-hour plane ride from her Nashville home, McEntire and her husband/manager Narvel Blackstock jet home.
"It's easier for Narvel and myself -- we get to sleep in our own bed. He goes to the office the next morning and I stay at home and play mom -- I play Narvel's wife and I get a lot of stuff done at the house.
"Then Narvel and I meet at the airport and fly out that afternoon. We love it, we really do," McEntire tells the Sun during a phone interview from her holiday home in Cancun.
"Coming home every night does help keep me grounded because you still have the everyday things you have to do and you're not a prisoner in a hotel room.
"Basically, I'm a mother when I get home and it's a lot of work. There's not much time to bask in the stardom."
McEntire and her family have adjusted well to life in the spotlight. Even her eight-year- old son Shelby has gotten used to having a famous mom.
"He misses me and wants me to stay home more often ... but he understands. This (lifestyle) is all he knows and he just thinks everyone else's mom does the same thing."
Working together with Blackstock, whom she married in June 1989, is ideal for the couple.
"The best thing about us working together is we don't have to wait for Narvel to be done his job and me to get off my job to do something."
McEntire also gets close to those on the road with her.
She, Linda Davis and Terri Clark have all bonded.
"Terri is a very energetic person but she's very serious about her business," says McEntire.
"Barbra Mandrell is my big sister in the business. And people like Terri, Faith Hill and Linda Davis are like my little sisters," explains McEntire.
"So when I get around them I'm always like, 'listen that don't work. Don't try that anymore. And be careful when you make this decision."
The best advice she can pass on was given to her by the likes of Mel Tillis and The Statler Brothers.
They told her if she treats her career like a business, it will take care of her.
"Every decision you make, make sure it's a business decision."
Back in 1974 when Red Steagall discovered McEntire singing the anthem at an Oklahoma City rodeo, he told her to avoid making the same mistake he did.
He advised her to stay away from people who would use her, and to spend the time finding good people she could trust.
So how does she know what a person's hidden agenda really is?
"You feel it, you have to let your instincts take over. You've got to go with your gut feeling -- God put that instinct there, you have to use it."
Another person McEntire has a good feeling about these days is Canadian Shania Twain.
In fact, the veteran entertainer respects that Twain has blazed her own trail, even if it is more pop influenced then what the rest of Nashville seems to approve of.
"If she did the same thing as everyone else, it wouldn't be different and she wouldn't be standing out like she does.
"For what she has done for country music and the women in country music, I take my hat off to her, I salute her and I applaud her.
"I think she's a fabulous entertainer and I've seen her show."
It's only natural that someone who has helped pave the way for others admires that quality in someone else.
McEntire acknowledges she's played that role but quickly adds: "Now Shania can. It's our responsibility to learn from past female artists, like I did from Tammy (Wynette), Loretta (Lynn), Barbra (Mandrell) and Dolly (Parton).
"Now, it's time for Shania to be the next generation and to set the standard and be a pioneer."
McEntire says it's a "man's world" and that female artists often discover it's difficult to find a balance.
She points out that for the most part it's women who are the ones buying tickets and the CDs.
"And women consequently want to listen to men and watch men. That's just the way it's always been."
To counteract that sentiment, McEntire makes sure that her image is just right.
"I've never been a threat to women.
"I've always been their friend when I'm on stage, and the guys look at me as the nice girl singing good songs. And that's the way I like it.
"I don't want women thinking I'm trying to steal their man from them -- I've got me a husband and I'm happy with him!"
The singer who also has impressive acting credits -- she was accepted to play the Kathy Bates role in Titanic but had to bow out due to her busy concert schedule -- also doesn't want to mess with her image on the screen.
She doesn't want roles with profanity and she certainly doesn't want to stretch her acting to incorporate a drug-using prostitute.
She compares finding the right script to finding the right song -- if the melody is great but the words aren't, the song gets turfed.
"I'd like to do more comedy ... but you can't find something that's funny but (without) bad language."
It's what you'd expect from the current winner of the Minnie Pearl Award for all her charity work.
She credits her desire to help people from the time she spent hanging around with Bob Hope.
"I asked him one time, 'Bob why do you do so many of these charity functions?' He told me that `this is the fun part -- giving back.'
"When I started doing benefits, I saw what he was talking about."
The energy of the volunteers is inspiring to her.
McEntire is having a great time on this tour and says she's looking forward to returning to Calgary.
"I remember Calgary -- it's a wonderful town with friendly people and good places to eat."
She's also enjoying being on the road with friends and If You See Her/If You See Him singing partners Brooks & Dunn.
"Ronnie and Kix are wonderful people. They are a laugh a minute and they always have something to say.
"We never have enough time to visit."
Brooks & Dunn are notorious practical jokers (for more see the interview with the duo on Pages 6 and 7 of Sun Country), so have they pulled some winners on McEntire?
"Not once!" she says with relief.
Are they afraid of you?
"I think they're very respectful and I'm just not that type," answers McEntire.
She also knows not to get in over her head.
"I know they are the best at it so I don't start anything. They could get me back three times worse than anything I could ever think of."