Reese Witherspoon Rings in the Big 4-0 Singing ‘Sweet Home Alabama’

Down home Southern gal Reese Witherspoon celebrated her 40th birthday over the weekend as only a Southern girl (who went on to become an Oscar-winning actress and production company owner) could: by singing Lynyrd Skynyrd with Keith Urban on guitar. She’s a little bit Melanie Smooter, a little bit Melanie Carmichael.


Witherspoon, whose actual birthday is Tuesday, had a party over the weekend for her closest friends, including Kate Hudson, Taylor Swift, her mother, and, yes, Keith Urban. On Instagram, Vanity Fair’s Derek Blasberg caught Witherspoon leading the crowd in a sing-a-long to “Sweet Home Alabama.”

Witherspoon is technically from Nashville. But the best Tennessee song is “Walking in Memphis” so what’s a girl to do?


Witherspoon was not the only performer of the night. Taylor Swift also took the stage at the Warwick to perform “Shake It Off.” Since your invite got lost in the mail, Kate Hudson was kind enough to Snapchat the moment.

You only catch a glimpse of Witherspoon dancing in the audience, but it’s safe to assume it looked a whole lot like this: