Just one look at Tim McGraw and it’s clear the country superstar has serious willpower. At 58, he’s in the best shape of his life, happily in love with his wife, Faith Hill, and still riding high after more than three decades in country music. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, nearly two dozen No. 1 albums, and countless awards and accolades, McGraw has built a career that most artists only dream about.
But the “Don’t Take the Girl” crooner admits that he might not be where he is today if it weren’t for the woman he’s been married to for nearly 30 years. In fact, McGraw, who has been open about his past struggles with alcoholism and substance abuse, credits Hill with helping save his life.
“I was running pretty hard,” the Louisiana native reflected on the years before he got sober while appearing on The Tim Ferriss Show. “I was running hard back in the day [and] I was drinking a lot, which didn’t stop after we got married.”
Tim McGraw admitted that while walking down the aisle didn’t immediately change his drinking habits, over time, Hill helped him confront what was spiraling out of control.
“She beat it out of me after a while,” he said candidly, explaining that he was “just doing everything. I was a kid in a candy store, especially after I got successful and never had any money before, never been around any of that stuff before. And then all of a sudden it became a tool that was useful until it wasn’t.”
Before tying the knot, McGraw and Hill first crossed paths in 1994 at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. Two years later, she joined him on the road as the opener for his Spontaneous Combustion Tour, and their connection only deepened from there.
“When Faith came along, I was burning it wide open when we met, and she started tapping the brakes for me,” McGraw shared, describing how he had been living life in the fast lane. “I had the self-awareness that I needed to slow down at the time… When we met, we were 28 years old, so we were a little older, and we both had success. And then, once I met her, I didn’t want to lose her.”
He didn’t hold back when talking about what makes Hill so special. “She’s just magic. She’s magic. Not just her singing and her looks and all that, of course, that’s all a bonus. But as a person, she’s just magic,” McGraw beamed. “She just lights up a room, and she lit me up and still does.”
While McGraw knew Hill could help him change, he said the turning point had to come from within. And it didn’t happen overnight.
“She sat me down a few times, but actually there was one morning in particular where I woke up and realized that it was 7:00 a.m. I was going to have to take the kids to school soon. And I realized I had a bottle of whiskey in my hand,” he recalled. “I had the bottle in my hand, and I walked straight back to the bedroom and told her that I needed help. She goes,‘All right, let’s do it. I’m with you.’ And she’s stuck by me the whole time.”
“Look, it’s not been a linear path. As anybody knows who has ever gone through that kind of thing. There are always pitfalls and steps backwards and steps forward. But she’s a rock. She’s a rock,” McGraw said, praising Hill’s unwavering support.
And when he looks back on his life and career, he doesn’t mince words about what she’s meant to him.
“I wouldn’t be the same artist had I not met her. I certainly wouldn’t have the career that I’ve had. Had I not met her, certainly wouldn’t have lasted as long,” he admitted. “I would’ve burned out really quickly, I think, especially if I had lost her after I found her. If I had lost her because of not sort of bringing myself around a little bit, then I definitely would’ve been in a downward spiral.”
