November 2018 30 • Samuel Timothy McGraw was born in Delhi, Louisiana on May 1, 1967. He is the only child of Elizabeth "Betty" Ann (D'Agostino) Timble, a waitress, and Frank Edwin "Tug" McGraw Jr., a star pitcher for the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. McGraw is of Italian and Irish descent on his mother's side, and of Scots-Irish, English, Scottish, French, Dutch, Czech, and German descent on his father's side. • Raised by his mother in Start, also in Richland Parish, east of Monroe, Louisianna, McGraw grew up believing his stepfather, Horace Smith was his father. From the time of his mother's marriage until the time he met his biological father, his last name was Smith. • Though he was raised in Start, McGraw spent a good deal of time on the road in the cab of Smith's 18-wheeler. In the truck, he would sing along to country artists like Charley Pride, Johnny Paycheck, and George Jones. "By the time I was six," McGraw related to Christopher John Farley in Time, "I felt as if I knew the words to every album Merle Haggard ever recorded." He also sang spirituals in church and belted show tunes in elementary school plays. Just the Facts TIM MCGRAW At age 11, McGraw discovered his birth certificate while searching his mother's closet to look for Christmas presents. After his discovery, his mother revealed that his biological father was Tug McGraw, and took Tim to meet him for the first time. baseball. Besides, as McGraw noted to Dave McKenna in the Washington Post, "The only thing I learned in college was how to float a keg, and I didn't figure that was going to get me too far. So even though it was kind of scary, I wasn't giving up much. I thought I could make it." His dad continued to support him while he tried to rev up a career. • Landing in Music City in May 1989, McGraw had little experience in performing and no contacts. But the industry was ripe for smooth, handsome male vocalists, and he managed to line up gigs in Printers Alley clubs. McGraw came to the attention of Curb Records in 1990. After cutting a demo single, McGraw gave a copy to his father. A man who was friends with Curb Records executives heard the demo while driving with Tug one day and recommended that Curb contact the young singer. Several weeks later, he was able to play his tape for Curb executives, after which they signed him to a recording contract. McGraw's first single, "What Room Was the Holiday In", did not enter the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts upon its release. • His first self-titled album came out in April of 1993 but sank into oblivion. To drum up attention, the label sent McGraw on the road with his band, the Dance Hall Doctors, and his live act went over big. • In February 1994, McGraw released the infectious single "Indian Outlaw," and it quickly raced up the country charts and became a radio hit. However, it also earned him unwanted status as a novelty act and attracted a bitter backlash from many who found it offensive to Native Americans. • Tim's grandma and Faith's grandma both predicted that Tim and Faith would hook up before Tim and Faith even knew each other existed. The grandmothers did not know each other either. • McGraw and Faith Hill have three daughters: Gracie Katherine, Maggie Elizabeth, and Audrey Caroline. • The McGraw family lives in a six- bedroom home on 200 acres just outside of Nashville. softball game to raise money for hometown little league programs; the event now includes a celebrity softball game and a multi-artist concert that attracts over 11,000 fans per year. The combined events have funded new Little League parks and equipment, and have established college scholarship funds for students in the northeast Louisiana area. • McGraw also branched out into acting. Tim's first acting appearance came in 1997 on an episode of The Jeff Foxworthy Show, where he played Foxworthy's rival. • McGraw received critical acclaim as the overbearing father of a running back in the major studio movie portraying Texas high school football drama Friday Night Lights. The Dallas Observer said the role was "played with unexpected ferocity by country singer Tim McGraw." • McGraw's first lead role was in the 2006 film Flicka, which was released in theaters in October 2006. Shortly before Flicka opened, McGraw received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star is located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd. In addition to acting in Flicka, McGraw served as executive producer of the soundtrack album, which was released by his record label, StyleSonic Records, in association with Curb Records and Fox 2000 films. • In the days immediately following Hurricane Katrina, McGraw and his wife, who was raised in Mississippi, joined groups taking supplies to Gulfport, Mississippi. The two also hosted several charity concerts to benefit those who were displaced by the storm. Later in the year, the couple established the Neighbor's Keeper Foundation, which provides funding for community charities to assist with basic humanitarian services, in the event of a natural disaster, or for desperate personal circumstances. McGraw is also a member of the American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet to help the Red Cross highlight important initiatives and response efforts. • In June 2010, McGraw and his wife Faith Hill organized Nashville Rising, a benefit concert aimed to raise $2 million for The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee in response to the flood in early May that killed 22 people and caused $2 billion in damage. • On June 3, 2000, good friend and fellow country music star Kenny Chesney co-headlined the George Strait Country Music Festival near Buffalo, New York with McGraw. The artists’ night took a wild turn when they wound up getting arrested and slapped with a range of charges. Just a year later, they were found innocent by an Orchard Park, New York jury. After receiving the verdict, they signed autographs for more than 100 fans that had gathered at the courthouse. • McGraw has released fifteen studio albums. 12 of those albums have reached number 1 on the Top Country Albums charts. His albums have produced over 65 singles, 29 of which have reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs or Country Airplay charts. • His “Soul2Soul II” Tour with Faith Hill is the highest grossing tour in country music history, and one of the Top 5 among all genres of music. • McGraw was honored by Time magazine on April 21, 2015, with being in the Top 100 influential people of the year. • Tim McGraw has five tattoos, some you can see, and some you can't. His first came when he was 22 years old and drunk. It's a leprechaun with a cowboy hat on his thigh. There's also the Christian fish, the word "Faith," a cross with the initials of his daughters at each point and the letters DHD for Dancehall Doctors above his ankle. If there are any others he's hiding somewhere, only wife Faith Hill knows about them -- and she isn't talking. • Tim doesn't operate his own social media accounts. Aside from a message here and there, he trusts his team to get the word out on what's going with his career. The blackout extends to his family, as well and McGraw notes that there are strict social media rules. He wouldn't divulge what they were, however. Needless to say, if you see a tweet from a Gracie McGraw, you can be sure it's a phony. • When McGraw first reached fame in 1994, he established his annual Swampstock event. It began as a charity • Though he played Little League as a boy, McGraw had given up his dreams of becoming a pro ball player like his dad by the time he went to college. When he was a senior at Monroe Christian High School, he met up again with Tug McGraw, who agreed to pay for his higher education. McGraw graduated as salutatorian in 1985. Shortly after that, he changed his surname to match that of his biological father, though he continues to consider his stepfather, Smith, as his true dad. • Tim was 18 years old when Tug first realized how much Tim looked like him at that age, and he acknowledged his paternity. The third time Tim and Tug met was when Tim was 20 years old and headed back out to college, Tug gave him his State Championship ring. Tim acted out a similar scene in Friday Night Lights. Tim made sure his father, Tug McGraw, had the best medical care during his battle with a brain tumor. He was by his side when Tug passed away on Jan. 5th, 2004. • McGraw attended Northeast Louisiana University, now the University of Louisiana at Monroe, on a baseball scholarship, although he never earned a varsity letter. As a freshman, McGraw took pre-law courses after seeing the film And Justice for All, starring Al Pacino. McGraw pledged the Eta Omicron Chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha. He officially became a "Pike" on January 18, 1986. According to the frat's website, McGraw is still involved with the chapter as an alumnus. • He ended up enjoying parties more than classes and became more interested in music. He bought a guitar at a pawn shop, and within a year, he was performing and singing for tips around Monroe, Louisiana. He claims that his roommates often hid the guitar because he was so bad. • He attended Florida Community College at Jacksonville for one term, and occasionally sat in with local bands. In 1989, on the day his hero Keith Whitley died, McGraw dropped out of college to head to Nashville and pursue a musical career. His father told him to finish school first, but McGraw reminded him that he had quit college for Real Country Legends 96.3 welcomes Tim McGraw to the Laughlin Event Center on Saturday, February 23rd. He has been married to fellow singer Faith Hill since 1996. They met while on tour together at Country Jam in Grand Junction, Colorado. Tim proposed by writing "will you marry me" on Faith's dressing room mirror in lipstick. She replied with a lipstick kiss and “Yes! I’m gonna be your wife.”