Tim McGraw wrote his first song about Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s wedding.
McGraw was so moved by the pomp and ceremony back in July, 1981 he was inspired to put pen to paper and craft his first tune.
“I don’t remember exactly how old I was…,” the Louisiana native tells The Hollywood Reporter, “but I just fell in love with her (Diana) 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.”
It might not have been all that good, but it gave McGraw the drive to write more songs and he tells the publication that music eventually saved his life.
“I was getting an eviction notice from my apartment and I got my first royalty check pretty much within the same week,” he adds. “In a broader sense, everything good that has happened to me in my life has come from music.
“I met my wife 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. 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.”
During the chat, as part of The Hollywood Reporter’s Songwriters’ Panel with Kesha, David Crosby, and Diane Warren among others, Tim also revealed that his wife Faith Hill is the one person he plays all his new songs to, explaining she is always brutally honest.
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