Reba McEntire was "very self-centered" before she became a mother.

The 67-year-old singer has race car driver, Shelby, 32, with ex-husband Narvel Blackstock and explained that she is "very proud" of her son because he has ADHD but is "always trying to do better" in life.

She said: "A lot of people have told me 'You would never know [he] had been blessed with the life he was given. I'm very proud of him. He was a kid who had ADHD and could barely read in school, and now he's read 10 books this year. He's always trying to improve and do better. His daddy did a great job too. Shelby is a gift from God to me. We're very close. I was a very self-centered person to a degree before Shelby. But then there's a little character who you are given the job to protect and nurture and love and teach, so all the attention's not on you anymore."

The GRAMMY Award-winning star added that she brought her son up to know while she would "always love him", she wanted others to "like him" and strived to emulate the behaviour of her own parents and avoid turning him into a "spoiled brat."

She told PEOPLE: "Mama and Daddy always said to me, 'If you tell somebody you're going to be somewhere at a certain time, you show up. That's the way I was raised. When we would play games or cards, I'd never let Shelby win. He wouldn't have learned anything that way. I always told Shelby, 'I'll always love you, but I want other people to like you. So don't be a little jerk. Don't be a spoiled brat!"