Tim McGraw‘s career continues to reach new heights, including with his latest Standing Room Only album, but it’s a luxury his wife, Faith Hill, didn’t afford herself. The “Hey Whiskey” singer praises Hill for the way she continuously chose to put her family, including their three now-grown daughters, far above her own successful career.
“I got to hand it to Faith,” McGraw tells Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. “She right off the bat stepped back and said, ‘I’m going to raise my kids,’ so she gave up a huge part of her career for a long time to just raise kids, and that’s why our kids have turned out as well as they’ve turned out, because of her. I give her all the credit. She’s the best. I feel like I’ve got a lot more ahead of me and we’re looking forward to.”
With all three of his children out of the house, the 56-year-old is eager to embrace the next phase of parenting, when he becomes a grandfather — someday. But he also hopes that now that his daughters are all on their own, Hill can return to making music again.
“I can’t wait for grandkids,” McGraw says. “Hopefully not soon, but I can’t wait for grandkids. No, we got some trips to do, but life looks great ahead for both of us. I’d love for Faith to go back in the studio and record a record. I think she’s getting the itch for it, I think she is, because we need her voice out there. She’s just one of the best ever.”
Hill was opening for McGraw on his 1996 Spontaneous Combustion Tour when they fell in love, getting married that year and having their oldest daughter, Gracie, in 1997. Their careers continued to soar after tying the knot, a success that McGraw credits to their marriage.
“Both of our careers even exploded more after we got married, because we let go of it,” says the singer. “We just sort of found happiness and relaxed a little bit about what we were doing and found some confidence in what we were doing.”
Both McGraw and Hill have had plenty of highs and lows, in both their careers and their personal lives, but they’ve found a way to make their relationship work, and evolve even stronger over time.
“Being an artist is sort of a dichotomy because on one hand, you’re totally insecure and you totally think you’re going to fail every time you do something,” McGraw says. “And on the other hand, your goal is to be the biggest artist ever in the world. So, you’re fighting that battle within yourself the whole time, and I don’t think one works without the other, and it pushes you and it drives you … We get it, we understand it. So, when you’re having days when you’re not feeling confident, then she’s the one that makes me feel confident. When you’re having days when she’s not feeling confident, then I make her feel confident, and it’s just worked for us.”
McGraw hadn’t hit 30 when he and Hill said “I do.” Madly in love at the time, McGraw admits he had no idea how much their relationship would change everything for him.
“I guarantee you, had I not gotten married to Faith at 29 years old A, I probably would’ve ran my career into the ground, and B, I would’ve died already with my career into the ground, one or the other, and it wouldn’t have ever been where it’s at now.”
McGraw will embark on his Standing Room Only Tour in March, with Carly Pearce serving as his opening act for all dates. See a track list for the album below, and find Standing Room Only and all of his music and upcoming shows at TimMcGraw.com.
Read ‘Tim McGraw: 11 Things to Know About the Singer and Actor’ here.
