Tim McGraw endures as a country music icon

Tim McGraw

It’s very difficult to separate Tim McGraw from the country music charts. Simply put, McGraw is one of the most popular country crooners that’s too hard to forget.

Samuel Timothy McGraw was born May 1, 1967, to Ann D'Agostino, a waitress, and Frank Edwin "Tug" McGraw Jr., who served as a relief pitcher for the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies

McGraw decided to become a singer when he dropped out of college in 1989. Three years later, he landed a recording contract with Curb Records, who launched him with his self-titled album. A lot of McGraw's albums and singles eventually became country best-sellers and chart-topping country hits.

His second album, Not a Moment Too Soon sold over 6 million copies and was 1994’s best selling country album, with his first no. 1 single, “Don’t Take it Girl.” In 1995, the album’s title track, “Down on the Farm” became no. 1 country music single, while “Refried Dreams,” joined the top 5 list. The Academy of Country Music honored him with the Album of the Year and Top New Male Vocalist Awards.

In 1995, he launched his third album, All I Want, which debuted at no. 1 at the country music charts and sold over 2 million copies. The album’s singles, "I Like It, I Love It,” "She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart,” "Can't Be Really Gone", "All I Want Is a Life", and "Maybe We Should Just Sleep on It" were all top 5 hits.

His fourth album, Everywhere, launched in 1997, was another success and sold over 4 million copies. "It's Your Love", "Everywhere", "Where the Green Grass Grows", and "Just to See You Smile" reached the top of the country charts, the last staying at the Billboard charts for over 40 weeks. "It's Your Love" received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals and Best Country Song.

The release of A Place in the Sun in 1999 solidified McGraw's success. He debuted both on top of the US pop and country album charts and sold over 3 million copies.

The coming of the new millennium did not hamper McGraw’s career. In 2000, the release of his Greatest Hits album, let to a nine-week stint at the charts and sales of over 6 million copies, so far, one of the biggest-selling albums in the modern country market.

McGraw's next album, Set This Circus Down, was released in April 2001, and spawned produced number-one country hits: "Grown Men Don't Cry", "Angry All the Time" (with Faith Hill), "The Cowboy in Me", and "Unbroken".

In 2004, Live Like You Were Dying continued McGraw’s commercial success. The title track was dedicated in honor of his father who died of a brain tumor earlier in the year. The album reached No. 1 on Billboard (10 weeks on Radio & Records) and stayed there for seven unconsecutive weeks, and was 2004’s biggest country hit single of the year and went on to grab the ACM Single and Song of the Year award, CMA Single and Song of the Year award, and a Grammy.

In April 2006, McGraw and his wife, Faith Hill (which he married in 1996), embarked on a 73-concert 55-city tour, which sold more than 1 million tickets and grossed almost $90 million, making it the highest-grossing tour in country music history. The profits from the tour were donated for the benefit of the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

With over 40 million albums sold, Tim McGraw is the eighth best-selling artist and the third best-selling country singer of the Soundscan era.

McGraw also lent his talent in acting, playing featured roles in such films as The Blind Side (2009) and Four Christmases (2010) and Country Strong (2010).