Birthing pains having subsided our hero arrives in style on Not a Moment Too Soon, Billboard’s best-selling album of 1994. The self-titled debut, Tim McGraw, was a slow burner despite an excellent roster of guests such as Sonny Garrish, Brent Rowan and Glenn Worf.

In 1989 he decided to follow his heart and set off for Nashville where his talents were spotted but the folks at Curb Records, for whom he would record eleven studio albums and be the subject of several compilations, most of them multi-platinum affairs. Boasting eclectic European ancestry Tim was a fine sportsman himself but also a keen country fan with a particular penchant for Keith Whitley. Samuel Timothy McGraw was born in Delhi, Louisiana in 1967, his long-estranged father Tug McGraw being a star pitcher for The New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. His PCA as Country Music Icon in 2014 is said to be one of his most cherished since he won the AMA for Not a Moment Too Soon, the 1994 Album of the Year and the moment that really put him on the map. He must have had to build an extension to contain his vast awards collection – all the expected Academy of Country Music, Grammy Awards, CMA gongs and People’s Choice selections jostle for space.

Featuring solo and duet material that tour staggered many who were delighted to hear covers of “The Joker” and “Chasing Cars”, some George Strait and Tom Petty and a rousing version of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried”.Ī traditionalist with an eye on the longevity of the country-pop form McGraw is a consummate showman, singer and guitar player who also happens to be a pretty decent actor, pilot and genuinely nice guy, seemingly unaffected by his fame and reputation. Tim’s husband and wife double headlining tour with Faith Hill – the Soul2Soul 11 Tour is the highest-grossing in country music history and brought houses down across America. His track record suggests as much since ten of his albums have hit number one on the Top Country Albums charts and his single releases have proven equally fertile with “It’s Your Love”, “Just to See You Smile” and “Live Like You Were Dying” being the top country songs of 1997, 19 respectively on Billboard’s end of year reckoning. Tim’s accolades and sales figures are off the scale: his imminent fourteenth album Damn Country Music is set to be a 2015 event, smooth and easy as you like. Not just our opinion either ask Taylor Swift whose song “Tim McGraw” is sung in his honour and references the smash hit “Can’t Tell Me Nothin’”. Dressed in a white tee, belt buckled Levis and sporting his trademark Stetson, Tim McGraw is really the archetypal All-American country hero.

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