What I’ve Learned: Tim McGraw (2024)

At 54, Tim McGraw is an American music institution, headlining stadiums full of country music fans for well over a decade. He's also a first-rate actor, husband, and father of three.

You can be a great singer, have great songs, be a great performer—and it still might not happen.

I graduated second in my high school class. I was in prelaw in college. And then I discovered playing guitar. I finally had to make a phone call to my mom and say, “I’m going to drop out of college, sell everything I have, and move to Nashville.” I said that wincing, expecting a rebuke, but got “If you don’t do it, you’ll always regret it.”

My oldest daughter wanted to move to L. A. It was tough. But I was 18 or 19 wanting to move to Nashville. How can I say, “Well, I did it, but you can’t”?

Blind faith is not true faith. Asking questions and constantly dissecting faith—and still having faith? That represents a truer faith.

Everybody forgets that it’s your personal relationship with your god. Everybody wants to infringe on your personal relationship.

Structure creates freedom. If you don’t have any structure, what you think is freedom is really chaos.

People ask me, “How could you have a relationship with your father? You were growing up in nothing. He was a millionaire baseball player. He knew you were there, and he didn’t do anything.” But when I found out Tug McGraw was my dad, it gave me something in my little town in Louisiana, something that I would have never reached for. How could I ever be angry?

Money doesn't solve all the problems, but I’d rather have problems than not have money. As bad as that sounds.

I remember a moment when I was getting out of bed and going to the liquor cabinet and taking a big shot at 8:00 in the morning and thinking, I have to wake the kids up. I went straight to my wife and said, “This is where I’m at.” I was scared. She just grabbed me and hugged me and changed my life.

I didn't know love could feel so good. Was it an emotion? Was it a lifestyle? Was it an imaginary thing? But love is all of those things.

And love is being angry. Love is not talking for a day. Love is getting in each other’s face. Love is accepting that I’m wrong. Love is a 360 degree thing. It’s not linear.

Growing up with my mom and two sisters and now with my wife and three daughters, you would think my patience would be further down the road than it is.

My wife always says, “You’re not scared of anything.” I say, “Ehhh, one thing. I’m looking at it right now.”

Most times, when Faith and I go to a party, they’re catered. When people come to our house, they’re like, “You guys actually cooked this?” I say, “We’ve been cooking all day!”

Faith's taught me a lot about setting tables. She cracks that whip on that.

I can't stand to eat before a show. I want to feel like this hungry lion that’s on the prowl.

I don't pay very much for my cowboy hats. I wear a black straw hat made by Resistol. It takes about three shows to really sweat through it to fall into place and start looking good. And then I’ll wear it three months longer than I should just because I don’t want to break in a new one.

We're all in this together. You don’t have to puss*foot around with me.

They always say you’re not supposed to fight in front of your kids. Everybody fights in front of their kids. That’s part of the deal.

Most of the time, I find when I second-guess my gut, it doesn’t work. Or if I get too much advice from too many people, it doesn’t work. Now, my gut doesn’t always work, either.

When I read the Friday Night Lights script, I called up Pete Berg, who directed it, and he didn’t know me from Adam. He told me he’d already cast the part with another musician. I went and did my audition. We had to go to Paris, and as soon as we got in the hotel room, the phone rang. It was Billy Bob Thornton: “I just got a call from Pete Berg, who said, ‘Some country singer just came in here and blew me away.’ ” It was a good vote of confidence. But on the other hand, I was like, How the hell don’t you know who I am?

Ego always bores me. So I’m sure I bore people on occasion.

There are a handful of songs that come along where you know that when you do it, no one can hear anybody else doing it.

Sometimes God just walks through the room, and you happen to be standing there.