biography
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.
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 by Tim McGraw. Currently, McGraw appears in the Jamie Foxx movie The Kingdom - which is in theaters now.