Country power couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill may have been married more than 25 years, but becoming empty nesters after their three daughters left home has left them feeling like newlyweds and enjoying, as McGraw adorably euphemistically calls it, their “candle time.”
“We’d gotten married quickly. We dated for a short time, got married and soon after had a baby so we didn’t have a whole lot of time to get to know each other that well until we had kids,” McGraw tells Billboard News host Tetris Kelly. “Now all of a sudden we have this time together and it kind of turned into we’re having our second honeymoon: Light the candles, turn the music on, have some fun. And now when the kids come home after about five days we’re like, (looks at his watch), ‘Don’t you have somewhere to be? Mom and dad need some candle time.’”
It turns out McGraw is just as happy to spend time on stage with his wife as he is alone at home with her in Nashville. McGraw and Hill famously embarked on one of the most successful country tours of all time with their periodic Soul2Soul outings, which featured the couple each singing their own sets and then performing together. Started in 2000, the most recent iteration ended in 2018.
“I always love singing with my wife because A, I think she’s one of the greatest singers in the world and B, I get better every time I sing with her because it’s like a Nascar trying to keep up with an Indy car,” he says. “I really have to put my big boy pants on to sing with her.”
McGraw will release his 17th studio album, Standing Room Only, Aug. 24. The title track stands at No. 17 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart this week.
The singer will kick off his 30-city North American Standing Room Only arena tour on March 14 in Jacksonville, Fla. Carly Pearce will serve as support.
Watch a clip from McGraw’s interview with Billboard News in the video above.
