FROMLEFT: THIENPHAN; LARRYBUSACCA/WIREIMAGE
I think they’re thecoolestperson that ever
was all the time. I’m surepeoplehave that
sortofphilosophyandthinkthatway[about
me],butIcertainlydon’t.”
McGrawmaybeconfidentenoughtocop
tohisuncoolnessnow,butheadmitsthathe
wasn’tascomfortable inhisownskinearly
inhiscareer.Whenhewouldgo into there-
cordingstudio,he’dtrytoemulateotherart-
ists inanattempt toreplicate theirsuccess.
Luckily forthe fanswho lovehimexactlyas
he is, it didn’t stick. “Over time I realized:
Hey,IsoundhowIsoundandIdowhatIdo,”
hesays. “I live thewayI liveand there’snot
alotIcandoaboutit,andIamhappywithit.”
Well,almost.Therewasoneincreasingly
dangerous aspect of his lifewithwhichhe
grewdissatisfied—onehevowed tochange
and todayhasnoqualms about addressing
publicly. In thepast, hewoulddrinkbefore
going onstage to help him overcome shy-
nessandself-doubt, thenusealcoholtofuel
thepost-showparties that followed.Buthe
quit drinkingfiveyears ago, after it began
harminghisrelationshipsandworryinghis
friendsand family. “Iwanted tobe thebest
person I canbe, to live to seemykids and
grandkids,” he explains. “The path Iwas
goingdown, Iwasn’t taking careofmyself,
wasn’t taking careofmybody. Iwanted to
keepdoingwhatIdidforaliving,andittakes
a lotofstamina tobeable togooutandplay
50showsnightafternightanddo them the
wayIwantedtodothem.”
MusicAssociationAwards tohiscredit.He
was named theMost PlayedArtist of the
DecadebyNielsenBroadcastDataSystems
forhavinghis songsbroadcastnearly8mil-
lion timeson the radio from2000 to2009,
morethananyotherartist inanygenre.His
accomplishments inmusicenabledhim to
branch into acting, a pursuitmanywere
surprised tofindMcGraw tookquitenatu-
rallyto, infilms like
TheBlindSide
,
Country
Strong
and
FridayNightLights
.Withannual
earningstopping$18million,heranksNo.7
onBillboard’s listofMusic’sTop40Money
Makers of 2013, ahead of Justin Bieber,
ColdplayandAdele.
That hot streak continueswith the re-
cent releaseof his new album,
TwoLanes
of Freedom
, whichbecamehis 14th album
todebut atNo. 1 on theBillboardCountry
Albumschart, and thesingle“OneofThose
Nights,”which ishis33rdNo. 1hit.Hismu-
sicianfriendsgathered inLasVegas inApril
to honor him during
ACM Presents: Tim
McGraw’s Superstar SummerNight
,which
aired lastmonth.
Despite these impressiveachievements,
nottomentionbeinghalfofanA-listpower
couplewithwifeFaithHill,hedoesn’tthink
he’s particularly cool and quickly points
out that his threedaughters—Gracie, 16;
Maggie, 14; andAudrey, 11—would readily
agree. In fact, he insists, he’smuchmore
EverymanthanSuperman.
“Idothesamethingwithotherartistsand
peopleIadmire,”hesays.“Ithinktheynever
have toworry— that they are the coolest
person that everwas all the timebecause
WhenTimMcGraw looks in themirror, the reflectionhe sees isvastly
di erent fromwhat theworldperceiveswhen itwatchesoneofmusic’s
biggeststars inaction.
Indeed,whenmostthinkofamalecountrysinger,McGrawisthefirst
onewhocomestomind.AsheentersaNashvillephotographer’sstudio
forafulldayofpromotionalactivitiesforhis latestNo.1album, it’seasy
to seewhy.The6-foot, black-hat-wearing singerexudescharismawith
hisquietmasculinityandcover-worthygood looks.His jeansare tight,
andthetattoopeekingoutunderhisblueshirtsleevehintsathisbad-but-
not-too-bad-boypersona.
More than20 years intohis career,McGraw, 46, remains one of
countrymusic’smostsuccessfulartists,with40millionalbumssoldand
threeGrammys,15AcademyofCountryMusicAwardsand12Country
OPTIMALPERFORMANCE:
McGraw shinesonstage,
and it’snoaccident: “That is the time I love the
most,” he says.
52
JUNE 01, 2013
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
