NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tim McGraw once sang about all the things he
planned to do later in life.
In "My Next 30 Years," he vowed to cry a little less, laugh a
little more, raise a little family and hang out with his
wife.
That modest list didn't include becoming a movie star, getting
elected to public office or being inducted into the Country Music
Hall of Fame but maybe it should have.
The 39-year-old singer, who will release his 11th album, "Let It
Go," on Tuesday, has become one of the most successful stars of his
generation: his 26 No. 1 hits easily surpass those racked up by
Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Shania Twain and Garth Brooks.
But he's branched into acting with a few well-received film roles,
and he's even talked about running for office in Tennessee
someday.
It's a long way from the early '90s when the Louisiana native was
one in a parade of look-alike "hat acts" that emerged after
Brooks.
John Hart, a former program director at WXTU in Philadelphia who
now runs a marketing research company in Nashville, recalls booking
a young McGraw on the station.
"He was promoting his first single, 'What Room Was the Holiday Inn'
and it was just a terrible song," Hart said. "He was a scared
little kid, but a good-looking kid. The only reason I booked him
was so we could say we were having (former major league pitcher)
Tug McGraw's son on."
From 'Indian Outlaw' to lighthearted anthems
McGraw's first success came in 1994 with "Indian Outlaw," a goofy
novelty song that some radio stations refused to play because it
was offensive to some American Indians. It kicked off a string of
lighthearted McGraw anthems, such as "Down on the Farm," "I Like
It, I Love It" and "Something Like That."
The singer could also be maudlin. The ballad "Don't Take the Girl"
was a weepy tale of young love torn apart. But it became his first
No. 1 and helped cement his image as a ruggedly good looking guy
with a sensitive side a perfect fit for the genre's large female
demographic.
His 1996 marriage to fellow superstar Faith Hill enhanced his
popularity. They became Nashville's glamour couple, and their duets
such as "It's Your Love" crossed over to the pop charts.
He's taken a weightier tone in recent years, singing about abortion
in "Red Rag Top," despair in "Angry All the Time" and mortality in
"Live Like You Were Dying," a song he heard when his father was
dying of cancer.
Speaking recently between bites of lunch, McGraw said he's had
complete control over his material and sound since his sophomore
album, "Not a Moment Too Soon."
"Everyone has left me alone since then," he said.
But for all his fame and success, McGraw has never been recognized
as a songwriter or a musical visionary, like a Johnny Cash or
Willie Nelson.
Last year, for the first time, he released a song he co-wrote, "My
Little Girl," a gentle piece from the soundtrack to his last movie,
"Flicka." On the new album, he co-wrote one track, the grinding
rocker "Train 10."
"I would say he's at the beginning of his career because he's just
starting to write music and do music that's a reflection of his own
life," said Jeff Garrison, vice president of programming for CBS
country radio.
Most songs don't make the cut
McGraw said he writes plenty of songs, but doesn't like most of
them enough to record.
"Every now and then something comes up that I co-wrote that I
really like," he said. "I think the older I get as an artist, there
are more avenues I want to explore."
While he seems a shoo-in for the Country Music Hall of Fame,
McGraw's legacy could lie beyond music. He's received favorable
reviews for his acting in "Friday Night Lights" and "Flicka," and
he'll appear later this year with Jamie Foxx in "The Kingdom."