Tim McGraw Says He Thought His Tour Was in Trouble Before Country Music Hall of Fame Call

Tim McGraw was bracing for bad news when his team asked him to hop on a call about his tour. What he got instead was the biggest honor of his career, and a moment he admits he could hardly process.

Weeks before McGraw was revealed as one of the newest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame, he was in New York with his wife, fellow superstar Faith Hill, supporting their youngest daughter, Audrey, who was playing a few gigs around the city. While there, his management team reached out and asked him to join a call about his upcoming tour. He immediately assumed the worst and began bracing for bad news.

“They told me that they needed a conference call about my tour. And of course, in my negative thinking way, the only thing I could think of was, ‘Well, the tour sales aren’t going very well, so they’re going to tell me I’m going to have to cancel some shows,’” McGraw recalled during an interview with Country Now moments after the Country Music Hall of Fame announcement.

He admitted things felt even more unusual when CMA CEO Sarah Trahern joined the call.

“And then Sarah got on the phone and I’m like, ‘Well, what’s Sarah Trahern doing on a call about my tour?’ And then my first thought was, ‘Oh, they’re going to want me to do a charity concert or a benefit concert for the Hall of Fame,’ which I would be happy to do. And then they told me what was going on and I had them stop and repeat.”

McGraw said he couldn’t comprehend what was happening, and once it finally clicked, his emotions completely took over.

“I said, ‘I really don’t understand what you’re saying right now.’ Then Sarah finally said, ‘Tim, you’re going into the Hall of Fame.’ And I just sort of fell apart. I just couldn’t believe it. I was walking around New York City with my earphones in talking to them. I had no idea. I was dreading the call actually because I thought something was bad news.”

While McGraw, who will be inducted into the Modern Era Artist category alongside Paul Overstreet (Songwriter category) and The Stanley Brothers (Veterans Era Artist category), has known about the honor for a few weeks, he admits it still hasn’t fully sunk in, as it’s something he never truly imagined for himself.

“Well, it’s the highest honor you can get. I think other than marrying my wife and having our three daughters, nothing beats this. I mean, this is something that I don’t even think you dare to dream about. And you certainly don’t think it’s going to … Even 10 years ago, I never thought that this would happen, certainly not in my lifetime,” he said.

The “Humble and Kind” singer will be formally inducted during the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Medallion Ceremony later this year. While he’s looking forward to that moment, he admits there’s one day he’s anticipating even more: when Hill joins him in the Hall of Fame.

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“I was serious when I said, ‘The only day that can be better than this is when I’m sitting in the audience and Faith is standing up there giving her acceptance speech,’” he pointed out.

As he looks ahead, McGraw is also reflecting on the legacy he’ll now share with some of his biggest musical heroes, including Merle Haggard.

“The one that made me just stop and stare was Merle Haggard. When I saw Merle Haggard there and I just had to stop and stare at it for a minute because he’s my all-time number one favorite, ever. And when I saw his plaque, I just couldn’t believe that I’m actually going to be in the same room with Merle Haggard forever.”

McGraw told us the honor has only motivated him to keep pushing forward, revealing that he has “a lot of good stuff coming.”

“Some TV stuff coming up, some movie stuff coming up and tour coming up, new album coming up. Lots of things. I feel like now this gives me a boost to maybe jump a little higher,” he teased.