Backstage Country

LISTEN LIVE

Tim McGraw Wrote His First Song About This Cultural Icon

Tim McGraw was part of a songwriter’s round-robin a couple of years ago, where he spent some time with David Crosby, who passed away last week at age 81. In…

Tim McGraw's First Song Write Was About This Cultural Icon
Joe Maher/Getty Images

Tim McGraw was part of a songwriter's round-robin a couple of years ago, where he spent some time with David Crosby, who passed away last week at age 81. In the chat, Tim revealed the subject of his first song.

Tim told The Hollywood Reporter, "I grew up in a little town, Start, Louisiana, just cotton farming and bean farming, been driving a tractor my whole life. I don't remember exactly how old I was. But it was when Princess Diana and Charles got married. I just fell in love with her like everybody else did. So I sat down and wrote a song about their wedding and how beautiful she was. I don't remember how it goes; I just remember something about 'You look so much like a queen' or something like that. It was terrible."

McGraw also shared in the same interview that music saved him. He said, "It saved me because I was getting an eviction notice from my apartment, and I got my first royalty check pretty much within the same week. But in a broader sense, everything good that has happened to me in my life has come from music. I met my wife [Faith Hill] through it, which was the first turning point in my life into a real understanding of what love is and finding out who you are in a lot of ways, and discovering the bad sides of yourself and the good sides of yourself."

He added, "And music is such therapy. Especially if you grew up in a dysfunctional environment, to have that as a tool that you can go to is something that I'm always grateful for. Or I try to be grateful, I'm not always — because it can go away. You can wake up one morning, and, like you said, your magic is gone."

Country music superstars over the decades have often branched out from singing and recording and making music videos to the Hollywood world of movies. Recording stars that became movie stars include Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, and many more.

That hasn't changed over the years as even today, country music's brightest stars extend their talent to movies and TV, and we look at twelve stars who made that bridge successful.

Lainey Wilson

GettyImages-1395962430.jpgRick Kern/Getty Images

It has recently been announced that she was cast for the next season of "Yellowstone."


Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

GettyImages-1358550616.jpgGabe Ginsberg/Getty Images

"1883" (2021) McGraw and Faith also appeared in a handful of feature films over the years.


Dolly Parton

GettyImages-2068567.jpgErik S. Lesser/Getty Images

First feature film was "9 to 5" in 1980. There were many movies and TV movies to follow.


Randy Travis

GettyImages-51372523.jpgVince Bucci/Getty Images

Various TV and movie roles, including 1997's "The Rainmaker."


Trace Adkins

GettyImages-487409999.jpgAngela Weiss/Getty Images

Many movies and TV, including 2011's "The Lincoln Lawyer."


Blake Shelton

GettyImages-1145506793.jpgRich Fury/Getty Images

Feature film 2015's "The Ridiculous 6" and 2019's "Ugly Dolls."


Dwight Yoakam

GettyImages-50902412.jpgGiulio Marcocchi/Getty Images

Many feature films, including 1996's "Sling Blade" and 2021's "Cry Macho" with Clint Eastwood.


Carrie Underwood

GettyImages-95613165.jpgChristopher Polk/Getty Images

2011's "Soul Surfer" and a TV episode of "How I Met Your Mother."


Reba

GettyImages-53394060.jpgKevin Winter/Getty Images

A recurring role on the current sitcom of CBS' "Young Sheldon," her own sitcom, "Reba," that ran for six seasons starting in 2001, and numerous TV movies and feature films over the years.


Billy Ray Cyrus

GettyImages-56799198.jpgPaul Hawthorne/Getty Images

Disney TV show "Hannah Montana" and several feature film roles, including 2010's "The Spy Next Door" starring Jackie Chan.


Toby Keith

GettyImages-2915716.jpgFrank Micelotta/Getty Images

Various TV movie roles, including 2008's "Beer For My Horses" with Willie Nelson.

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.