Tim McGraw Says He ‘Would’ve Died Already’ If He Didn’t Marry Faith Hill

Country singer Tim McGraw credits his success to his wife of 27 years, fellow recording artist Faith Hill.

“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 said on the podcast The Zane Lowe Interviews.

He said Hill was a big inspiration for him getting sober in 2008. 

“Well, I don’t know if the maturity’s occurred yet, but she put up with it for a while because I was pretty sneaky about it for a while,” he said of battling an addiction to alcohol. “But it was just overdoing stuff, and then 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.'”

Beyond just helping him thrive personally, McGraw said he consults Hill about his music, too. He said their process is collaborative. “I’m always playing her the songs that I want to record and playing the mixes as I’ll go along, and there’s times we don’t agree,” the 56-year-old father of three said. 

“There’s times where she goes, ‘I don’t like the way that sounds.’ ‘Well, I do, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.’ And the same thing when she’s making a record. It’s like, ‘I think this should be your single.’ She goes, ‘No, I don’t like that song. This is going to be the single.’ I go, ‘All right.'”

During a previous interview, McGraw said the secret to their success as a couple was never ignoring “problems” in their marriage and being “brutally honest” with each other. 

“I don’t know if there’s a key. We always say we’re 27 years coming up, it’s like 96 in show business,” he told Entertainment Tonight Canada in mid-August. “It’s almost like dog years.” 

That aggressive honesty extends to their daughters as well. The country singer also said, “Faith and I were going to raise our girls to be strong, independent and fierce and have their own minds and have their own opinions. And sometimes I go, ‘Dang, do we want them to be that independent and strong?’ But yeah, we’re so proud of them.