Tim McGraw has spent the last decade in the upper reaches of the entertainment world. His is a career marked by superlatives—by record-breaking tours and multi-platinum albums, and more recently by an expanding presence in movies.
And yet, at bottom, McGraw’s success is part and parcel of his Everyman status, of his ability to be known as husband and father as well as singer and actor, as citizen and friend as well as superstar. It is his believability, his knack for connecting with his audiences, whether he is singing a classic like “Live Like You Were Dying” or portraying the troubled father in Friday Night Lights, that have made his hard-won triumphs possible.
Upcoming Tim McGraw Concerts
McGraw’s next album, 1995’s All I Want, sold multi-platinum on the strength of the multi-week No. 1 hit “I Like It, I Love It.” In 1996, McGraw teamed up with Warner Bros. recording artist Faith Hill for the Spontaneous Combustion tour. It proved to be just that, as McGraw and Hill were married in October 1996.
McGraw’s Everywhere earned the CMA album of the year honors in 1998. The lead single, “It’s Your Love,” was the first musical collaboration between McGraw and Hill. It held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard country singles chart for six weeks, garnered the couple a CMA vocal event trophy and won vocal event, video, song and single of the year at the ACM Awards. More duets followed: “Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me” won the 1998 ACM vocal event trophy, and “Let’s Make Love” earned a Grammy.
A Place in the Sun debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard country and pop albums charts in 1999. On the strength of the hits “Please Remember Me” and “Something Like That,” McGraw won his second CMA album of the year award. Already a popular headlining act, McGraw joined the George Strait Country Music Festival and teamed with Asleep at the Wheel to record “Milk Cow Blues” for the Grammy-winning Bob Wills tribute album Ride With Bob. McGraw picked up male vocalist of the year honors at the CMA awards in 1999 and 2000.
Following his Greatest Hits, McGraw released Set This Circus Down in 2001, hitting No. 1 with “Grown Men Don’t Cry,” “Angry All the Time” and “The Cowboy in Me.” He also filmed a video for “Angel Boy” and harmonized and helped produce Jo Dee Messina’s crossover hit, “Bring On the Rain.”
Now, McGraw carries that legacy forward with the release of his latest CD, Let It Go, a collection with all the passion and vitality his legions of fans have come to expect from him.
Let It Go, co-produced by McGraw with Byron Gallimore and Darran Smith, longtime lead guitarist and bandleader for McGraw’s band, the Dancehall Doctors, showcases both his believability and the talent and charisma that have parlayed him into superstar status. Its themes are life and love, pain and joy, and the universal human striving for betterment, for rising above our surroundings and ourselves. The width of its 13 track spectrum can be gauged from two songs about freedom, “Last Dollar,” the album‚‘s debut single, with its light touch on the subject, and the title cut, a soul-searing look at the process of carrying on in the wake of the baggage the past can hang on us. It deals with the pain of regret in “Whiskey And You” and “Kristofferson,” “I’m Workin’” and “Comin’ Home,” suspicion in the song of the same name, and even revenge, in “The River And Me.” Faith Hill joins Tim on two of the album’s tracks, “I Need You,” a bit of passion and power in the tradition of their widely acclaimed duets, and “Shotgun Rider,” which channels “Desperado,” offering some of the hope and solace that the Eagles classic only hinted at. Tim also offers fans a rare glimpse at his songwriting skills, with the album’s tenth track, “Train #10,” a bit of classic country indecision in the face of a bad relationship.
Throughout, Tim reaffirms his position and triumphs as one of country music’s premiere talents, a man with the ability both to select and to fully inhabit meaningful and compelling songs.
Those triumphs are by now as well-known as they are impressive:
His last album, Reflected: Greatest Hits V. 2, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, his ninth consecutive album to do so;
He has now charted 26 #1 singles and sold 34 million records;
His awards to date include 3 Grammy‚‘s, 11 Academy of Country Music awards, 10 Country Music Association awards, 9 American Music awards and 3 People’s Choice awards;
In 2006, McGraw and wife Faith Hill made history with the highest-grossing tour in country music – and one of the top five in all genres of music- with ‚“Soul2Soul II‚”;
Following his acting debut in 2004’s critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights, he appeared in the lead role in the 2006 film Flicka, which has grossed $21 million at the box office, garnered a Broadcast Film Critics nomination for Best Song for ‚“My Little Girl,‚” which was co-written by̆ McGraw. In 2007, McGraw will appear in the upcoming Spring 2006 Jamie Foxx movie The Kingdom.
The past year has provided more than ample evidence of McGraw’s varied and impressive creative output. It saw the release of the Flicka soundtrack on StyleSonic Records, McGraw’s new venture with long-time producer Byron Gallimore, something McGraw calls “a dream Byron and I have had for a long time,” and the airing of his third NBC special, “Tim McGraw: Reflected.”
McGraw‚‘s musical genius is a testament to the instincts and tenacity of the man who claims the town of Start, Louisiana, as his home. He grew up loving music and sports, his father was baseball great Tug McGraw, but it was music that carried the day. McGraw played solo in regional nightspots, then headed to Nashville, where he joined the throng of young hopefuls vying for attention. His on-stage charisma helped land him a record deal, and his debut album hit the stores in April 1993. He and his band—some of whom are still with him—took to the road to hone the sound that continues to make his concerts among the industry’s most exciting. Still, his assault on the national psyche was slow in starting, and when it came time for his second album, he took the reins himself. Not A Moment Too Soon won awards from Billboard and the Academy of Country Music, and helped earn him an armful of Best New Artist awards. He soon became used to songs and albums that were events; that took on bigger-than-life proportions, with multiple-week #1 singles and multi-platinum albums becoming the standard. A year after he and Faith Hill turned his ‚“Spontaneous Combustion Tour‚” into romance and then marriage, their duet “It’s Your Love” was named Single of the Year by the ACM, Billboard, Radio & Records and received Video of the Year honors from CMT, which also named Tim “Male Artist of the Year.‚” Tim had similar sweeps with 1998’s “Just To See You Smile” from the Everywhere album, with “Just To Hear You Say That You Love Me,” another duet with Faith, and with “Live Like You Were Dying” more recently. “It’s Your Love” was voted CMT’s top video of all time and was the most-played single since Billboard began monitoring airplay. Tellingly, Tim has had at least one #1 single every year since1994.
He remains an artist unafraid of breaking new ground, whether it is collaborating with Nelly on “Over And Over,” which rode atop the pop charts for an incredible 13 weeks, or taking Ryan Adams’ “When The Stars Go Blue” to the upper regions of the country charts or his ‚“Cold, Cold Heart‚” duet with Tony Bennett. In additional new territory, McGraw also turned his attention to business, both in his new record company (StyleSonic Records) and in his association with the Nashville KATS of the Arena Football League.
Day to day, though, his is a world where home and family dominate. He plans his tours around family life and his daughters school schedules, and home remains the bottom line for him, a way to anchor the heady triumphs and demands of a life in the spotlight. It is an approach fully appreciated by fans and peers alike, one that has earned him respect and affection as well as accolades, and one that keeps him in the front ranks of American entertainers.
AWARDS
2006
People’s Choice Award- Top Male Performer
Grammy Award- Country Vocal Collaboration “Like We Never Loved At All”
2005
American Music Awards- Live Like You Were Dying
Album of The Year & Male Artist (country genre)
ACM Award- Single & Song of the Year (“Live Like You Were Dying”)
People’s Choice Awards- Favorite Country Male Artist
Grammy’s- Best Male Country Vocal Performance (“Live Like You Were Dying)
CMT Awards- Most Inspiring Video- “Live Like You Were Dying”
2004
People’s Choice Awards- Favorite Male Musical Performer
Radio Music Award- Country Male Artist
CMA Award- Single of the Year “Live Like You Were Dying”
(received 2 awards- one as artist and one as producer)
2003
American Music Awards- (Jan)- Favorite Male Country Artist
Radio Music Awards- Country Male Artist
American Music Awards- (Nov)- Favorite Male Country Artist
CMT Flameworthy Awards- Hottest Male & Fashion Plate- “She’s My Kind of Rain”
2002
American Music Awards- Best Country Album- Set This Circus Down Favorite Male Country Artist
Radio & Records Country Radio Readers Poll- Album ( Set This Circus Down ) & performer of the year
CMT Flameworthy Awards: “Hottest Video”- Cowboy In Me
2001
American Music Awards- Favorite Male Country Artist
Grammy- Vocal Collaboration w/Faith Hill (“Let’s Make Love”)
Radio & Records Country Radio Readers Poll- Best Male Vocalist
Blockbuster Award- Favorite Male Artist- Country
Playboy Magazine’s Top Male Performer
Radio Music Awards- Country Artist of the Year & Single of the Year- “Grown Men”
Country Music Association- Entertainer of the Year
Billboard Awards- Country Artist, Male Country Artist, Country Albums Artist, Country Album-
Greatest Hits , Country Single Artist
2000
Country Music Association- Male Vocalist
Father of the Year- National Fatherhood Initiative
Academy of Country Music Awards- Male Vocalist
American Songwriter Magazine- Favorite Artist of the Year
Radio & Records Country Radio Readers Poll- Best Male Vocalist & Album ( A Place in the Sun)
Billboard Magazine’s Male Artist of the Year
1999
Academy of Country Music Awards – Male Vocalist & Vocal Collaboration-
(“Just To Hear You Say That You Love Me” w/Faith Hill)
American Songwriter Magazine – Favorite Artist of the Year
Country Music Association Awards- Male Vocalist & Album of The Year ( A Place in The Sun )
(Also awarded as producer for Album of the Year – 3 CMA wins)
Music City News/TNN Awards – Male Vocalist, Vocal Collaboration-
(“Just To Hear You Say That You Love Me”) &
Song of the Year- (“Just To Hear You Say That You Love Me”)
Radio & Records Country Radio Readers Poll – Best Male Vocalist, Best Album ( Everywhere )
1998
Billboard Awards – Country Single of the Year (“Just To See You Smile”)
Country Music Association Awards – Album of The Year ( Everywhere)
(Also awarded as producer for Album of The Year- 2 CMA wins)
Country Radio Music Awards – Best Male Artist
Academy of Country Music Awards – Single of the Year, Song of the Year, Video of the Year & Top Vocal Event (“It’s Your Love”)
Radio & Records Country Radio Readers Poll – Best Album ( Everywhere )
1997
Billboard Magazine Single of the Year (“It’s Your Love”)
Billboard Monitor Single of the Year (“It’s Your Love”)
Radio & Records Single of the Year (“It’s Your Love”)
Gavin Single of the Year (“It’s Your Love”)
Country Music Television – Male Artist of the Year
Country Music Television – Video of the Year (“It’s Your Love”)
Country Music Television – Top Video of All Time (“It’s Your Love”)
Playgirl Magazine Sexiest Men of the Year, Top Ten
Country Music Association Awards – Vocal Event (“It’s Your Love”)
1996
Country Music Association SRO Awards – Best Tour Package (Spontaneous Combustion Tour)
1995
Country Music Association SRO Awards – Best New Touring Artist
Country Dance Music Awards – Best Dance Album ( Not A Moment Too Soon )
American Music Awards – Favorite New Country Artist
TNN/Music City News Awards – Male Star of Tomorrow
1994
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards – Favorite CD ( Not A Moment Too Soon )
Country Music Television Awards – Male Video Artist of the Year
Academy of Country Music – Album of the Year ( Not A Moment Too Soon ) &
Top New Male Vocalist
American Jukebox Awards – Best New Artist
Country Radio Awards – Best New Artist
Billboard Awards – Top New Country Artist
Billboard Magazine- Top New Country Album ( Not A Moment Too Soon )
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