Tim McGraw thinks he would have died if he hadn’t married Faith Hill

Tim McGraw fears how his life would’ve turned out if he hadn’t met wife and fellow country music star Faith Hill.

The 56-year-old country singer recently spoke about how falling in love with and marrying Hill, 55, changed the trajectory of his life during an interview with Apple Music 1 released on Aug. 24.

While chatting with host Zane Lowe about the importance of family, McGraw shared, “I guarantee you, had I not gotten married to Faith at 29 years old A, I probably would’ve ran my career into the ground, and B, I would’ve died already with my career into the ground — one or the other. And it wouldn’t have ever been where it’s at now.”

The couple, who tied the knot in 1996, have leaned on each other through the ups and downs of both their careers. McGraw explained that the two musicians know exactly what to say and do to uplift each other.

“So when (I’m) having days when (I’m) not feeling confident, then she’s the one that makes me feel confident. When we’re having days when she’s not feeling confident, then I make her feel confident,” he explained. “It just works for us.”

He added that they have had the opportunity to tour, sing and recently act together, referring to their starring roles on “1883,” the “Yellowstone” spinoff.

But Hill had to endure McGraw’s “wild years,” as Lowe put it, before they made it to where they are now. The “Humble and Kind” singer has spoken in the past about how his wife helped him switch to a healthier lifestyle.

“Well, I don’t know if the maturity’s occurred yet, but she put up with it for a while because I was pretty sneaky about it for a while,” McGraw told Lowe about his past drinking. “I think when the kids got old enough that they could notice things is when she finally said, ‘You’ve got to figure this out.’”

The “Breathe” singer and her husband share three daughters: Grace McGraw, 26, Maggie McGraw, 25, and Audrey McGraw, 21.

Speaking about their family, the musician said, “We have a confidence in our life. We have a confidence in our foundation. And all of this could go away and we’re perfectly happy with the five of us. We are a really tight family.”

Later in the interview, he opened up about how he and Hill created that solid foundation.

“I think Faith and I, the lucky thing for us, (was) when we decided to get married, we knew we wanted a family. We knew we wanted our family to come first, and we were 29 when we got married.”

He continued, “We were both successful, and so when we got married and decided to have a family, we had had enough success at that time that we could pick and choose when we wanted to work and how we wanted to work.”

Despite having busy schedules, they made sure to prioritize family time.

“Our kids traveled with us until school started and when school started, we didn’t work when school was going on, for the most part,” he recalled. “We lived our life just like everybody else. We were Mr. and Ms. McGraw when showing up. We had 15 teenage girls at our house all the time.”

Read on for more candid comments McGraw and Hill have made about their marriage through the years.

What have Tim McGraw and Faith Hill said about their relationship?

In 2017, McGraw and Hill released their first joint album, “The Rest of Our Life,” and they celebrated their collaboration with a performance on TODAY.

Before they sang, they sat down for an interview where they revealed their secret to a long and healthy marriage.

McGraw had a simple tip: good communication. “In the car, I drive,” he said. “In the relationship, she drives. We make decisions about things in different ways, but we always talk about it before we do it.”

He also said that Hill “tolerates a lot.”

She replied, “You tolerate a lot, too. I’m not the easiest person.”

Another key to their relationship: still enjoying each other’s company for almost 30 years.

Hill said, “We like each other; we do actually like one another.”

A few years later, McGraw stopped by Sunday TODAY and discussed finding purpose in life, the theme of his album “Here on Earth,” with Willie Geist.

For him, he said the moment he discovered his purpose was when he met Hill.

He then complimented the Grammy-winner.

“I’ve found that the times that I’ve spent working with Faith, especially touring with Faith, that my records got sort of exponentially better,” he said. “When it comes to singing with Faith, it’s like a NASCAR trying to keep up with an Indy car.”

He said even when they are performing together she encourages him to be the best version of himself.

She supports him on stage and in their personal lives. In August 2021, McGraw penned an essay for Esquire where he reflected on the moment he realized he needed to get sober.

“I remember a moment when I was getting out of bed and going to the liquor cabinet and taking a big shot at 8 in the morning and thinking, ‘I have to wake the kids up,’” he recalled. “I went straight to my wife and said, ‘This is where I’m at.’”

He said he was scared but Hill embraced him, changing his life.

In October 2021, the pair celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. For the special occasion, McGraw revealed in an Instagram video that he proposed to Hill multiple times before she said “yes.”

“We had dated for a while. I actually asked her to marry me quite a few times, but she kept saying no,” he said in the clip. “She said, ‘I’m not gonna get involved with another country singer. It’s just not going to work out.’”

He took a chance and suggested they get married again, during the Taste of Country Music Festival in Grand Junction, Colorado.

“I came off the stage and went back into my dressing room and Faith wasn’t there, but I looked at the mirror. In lipstick, it said, ‘Yes! I’m gonna be your wife,’” he sweetly recalled. “And we still have that mirror. And it was the best day of my life, that’s for sure.”

Hill celebrated their anniversary on her page with a video message about the importance of love.

“I have three beautiful, smart, crazy-funny daughters with this man,” she gushed. “So yeah, there you go. I love you so much, baby. Happy anniversary. Twenty-five years, wow!”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com