Tim McGraw has confessed he believes that he would’ve died if he never married Faith Hill.
On 24 August, the 56-year-old country music legend opened up to Apple Music 1 podcast host Zane Lowe about how much his wife of 27 years means to him. McGraw also wondered how much his life would’ve been different if Hill, 55, wasn’t in it.
“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,” he told Lowe. “And it wouldn’t have ever been where it’s at now.”
Since the couple were married in McGraw’s Louisiana hometown, they’ve carried each other through peaks and trials. When a curveball is thrown at either of them, the “It’s Your Love” singer said the other always knows how to elevate their spirits.
He noted: “So when [I’m] having days when [I’m] not feeling confident, then she’s the one that makes me feel confident. When we’re having days when she’s not feeling confident, then I make her feel confident.”
While their ability to read each other’s emotions has improved, their dynamic wasn’t as seamless when McGraw went through what Lowe characterised as his “wild years”. McGraw spoke candidly about their rough patch in a 2019 interview with Hoda Kotb, emphasising how pertinent Hill was to pull him out of party mode.
“When things happen and you succeed beyond your wildest dreams and you’re playing all these great shows and, you know, the party’s going on,” the artist told Kotb. “And then you’re married and you have kids and all the sudden your wife looks at you and says, ‘You know, you’re getting a little overboard and you need to make some decisions.’ It makes a big impact on you.”
Speaking to Lowe, McGraw admitted that his wife dealt with his immature antics, referring to his drinking history. “I was pretty sneaky about it for a while. I think when the kids got old enough that they could notice things is when she finally said, ‘You’ve got to figure this out,’” he proclaimed.
The musical pair share three daughters: Grace, 26, Maggie, 25, and Audrey, 21. McGraw also explained how their relationships aren’t dependent on fame or fortune, thanks to the atmosphere he and Hill cultivated as parents.
McGraw noted: “I think Faith and I, the lucky thing for us [was] when we decided to get married, we knew we wanted a family. We knew we wanted our family to come first, and we were 29 when we got married.”
Due to their careers, McGraw and Hill had the luxury of choosing where they wanted to raise their three children, and their daughters would often travel with their parents on tour during the summers.
“Our kids travelled with us until school started and when school started, we didn’t work when school was going on, for the most part,” McGraw recalled. “We lived our life just like everybody else. We were Mr and Mrs McGraw when showing up. We had 15 teenage girls at our house all the time.”
When McGraw met Hill in 1994 at a Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, Tennessee, both of them were in separate relationships. Hill was engaged to Scott Hendricks, while McGraw was dating Kristine Donahue. However, the two sparked a romance when they went on tour together in 1996. Hill broke off her engagement with the “Standing Room Only” creator and the two were married later that year.
“We were young and silly and goo-goo-eyed in love,” McGraw told People.
