2009 Performers

Now, McGraw carries that legacy forward with the release of his latest CD, Let It Go, a collection with all the passion and vitality his legions of fans have come to expect from him.

Let It Go, co-produced by McGraw with Byron Gallimore and Darran Smith, longtime lead guitarist and bandleader for McGraw's band, the Dancehall Doctors, was released on March 27, 2007 and debuted at #1 on both the pop and country album chart and has now reached platinum selling status for sales of One Million. Let It Go showcases both his believability and the talent and charisma that have parlayed him into superstar status. Its themes are life and love, pain and joy, and the universal human striving for betterment, for rising above our surroundings and ourselves. The width of its 13 track spectrum can be gauged from two songs about freedom, "Last Dollar," the album’s debut single, with its light touch on the subject, and the title cut, a soul-searing look at the process of carrying on in the wake of the baggage the past can hang on us. It deals with the pain of regret in "Whiskey And You" and "Kristofferson," "I'm Workin'" and "Comin' Home," suspicion in the song of the same name, and even revenge, in "The River And Me." Faith Hill joins Tim on two of the album's tracks, "I Need You," a bit of passion and power in the tradition of their widely acclaimed duets, and "Shotgun Rider," which channels "Desperado," offering some of the hope and solace that the Eagles classic only hinted at. Tim also offers fans a rare glimpse at his songwriting skills, with the album's tenth track, "Train #10," a bit of classic country indecision in the face of a bad relationship.

Throughout, Tim reaffirms his position and triumphs as one of country music's premiere talents, a man with the ability both to select and to fully inhabit meaningful and compelling songs.

Those triumphs are by now as well-known as they are impressive:

His last album, Reflected: Greatest Hits V. 2, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, and has gone on to sell 2 million copies.

He has now charted 30 career #1 singles and sold 40 million albums and singles worldwide;

His awards to date include 3 Grammy’s, 11 Academy of Country Music awards, 11 Country Music Association awards, 9 American Music Awards and 3 People's Choice awards;

In 2007, McGraw and wife Faith Hill made history as they ended their two-year "Soul2Soul Tour" with a staggering total box office gross of $142 million dollars and established it as the best selling multi-year tour in North America in country music history with 2 million fans attending117 shows in 92 cities and two countries.

Following his acting debut in 2004's critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights, he appeared in the lead role in the 2006 film Flicka, which has grossed $21 million at the box office, garnered a Broadcast Film Critics nomination for Best Song for "My Little Girl," which was co-written by McGraw, appeared in 2007’s The Kingdom and has a supporting role in 2008’s holiday season release Four Christmases.

The past year has provided more than ample evidence of McGraw's varied and impressive creative output. It saw the release of the Flicka soundtrack on StyleSonic Records, McGraw's new venture with long-time producer Byron Gallimore, something McGraw calls "a dream Byron and I have had for a long time," and the airing of his third NBC special, "Tim McGraw: Reflected."

McGraw’s musical genius is a testament to the instincts and tenacity of the man who claims the town of Start, Louisiana, as his home. He grew up loving music and sports, his father was baseball great Tug McGraw, but it was music that carried the day. McGraw played solo in regional nightspots, then headed to Nashville, where he joined the throng of young hopefuls vying for attention. His on-stage charisma helped land him a record deal, and his debut album hit the stores in April 1993. He and his band--some of whom are still with him--took to the road to hone the sound that continues to make his concerts among the industry's most exciting. Still, his assault on the national psyche was slow in starting, and when it came time for his second album, he took the reins himself. Not A Moment Too Soon won awards from Billboard and the Academy of Country Music, and helped earn him an armful of Best New Artist awards. He soon became used to songs and albums that were events; that took on bigger-than-life proportions, with multiple-week #1 singles and multi-platinum albums becoming the standard. A year after he and Faith Hill turned his "Spontaneous Combustion Tour" into romance and then marriage, their duet "It's Your Love" was named Single of the Year by the ACM, Billboard, Radio & Records and received Video of the Year honors from CMT, which also named Tim "Male Artist of the Year." Tim had similar sweeps with 1998's "Just To See You Smile" from the Everywhere album, with "Just To Hear You Say That You Love Me," another duet with Faith, and with "Live Like You Were Dying" more recently. "It's Your Love" was voted CMT's top video of all time and was the most-played single since Billboard began monitoring airplay. Tellingly, Tim has had at least one #1 single every year since 1994.

He remains an artist unafraid of breaking new ground, whether it is collaborating with Nelly on "Over And Over," which rode atop the pop charts for an incredible 13 weeks, or taking Ryan Adams' "When The Stars Go Blue" to the upper regions of the country charts or his "Cold, Cold Heart" duet with Tony Bennett. Early 2008 success includes a #1 classic rock hit with Def Leppard as McGraw and the band teamed up a duet on "Nine Lives."

Paisley has stated that his love of country music stems from his maternal grandfather, Warren Jarvis, who gave Paisley his first guitar at age eight and taught him how to play. At age twelve Paisley wrote his first song, and by age thirteen, he was an opening act for country singers such as The Judds, Ricky Skaggs, and George Jones at the Capital Music Hall in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Paisley graduated from John Marshall High School in Glen Dale, West Virginia , studied briefly at West Liberty State College (WV), and later was awarded a full-paid ASCAP scholarship to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee (from 1993 to 1995). While in college, he met Frank Rogers, a fellow student who went on to serve as his producer. Paisley also met Kelley Lovelace, who became his songwriting partner.

After graduating from Belmont, Paisley signed a songwriting contract with EMI Music Publishing and he wrote David Kersh's top 5 hit, "Another You", as well as cuts by Tracy Byrd and David Ball. His debut as a singer was with the label Arista Nashville, with the song "Who Needs Pictures" (released February 22, 1999). In May of that same year, he made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. Seven months later he had his first #1 hit with "He Didn't Have to Be," which detailed the story of Lovelace and Lovelace's stepson.

In 2000, Paisley was exposed to his first national non-country music oriented audience when producer, Todd Baker, tapped him to appear on the TLC special, "Route 66: Main Street America." This show featured Paisley and band doing rare live and acoustic versions of Route 66. The international and home video versions of this program end with a full, un-cut acoustic rendition of the piece, which was performed live on Rainbow Bridge in Riverton, KS.

Later in 2000, Paisley won the Country Music Association's (CMA) Horizon Award and the Academy of Country Music's best new male vocalist trophy. He received his first Grammy Award nomination a year later for Best New Artist. On February 17, 2001, Paisley was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.

In 2002, he won the CMA Music Video of the Year for "I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song)." Several celebrities made notable guest appearances in the video, including Little Jimmy Dickens, Kimberly Williams, Dan Patrick, and Jerry Springer. His three other singles off the Part II album, "I Wish You'd Stay", "Wrapped Around", and "Two People Fell in Love", all charted in the top 10.

Paisley released his third album, Mud on the Tires (2003), following Who Needs Pictures and Part II. The album features the hit song "Celebrity," the video of which parodies reality shows such as Fear Factor and American Idol and included such celebrities as Jason Alexander, Jim Belushi, Little Jimmy Dickens, Trista Rehn, and William Shatner. (Paisley later contributed to Shatner's album Has Been.) The album's title track, "Mud on the Tires," reached Billboard #1 in 2004.

In 2005, after touring with Reba McEntire and Terri Clark on the critically acclaimed "Two Hats and a Redhead Tour," he released Time Well Wasted, containing 15 tracks. This album includes "Alcohol," two duets — "When I Get Where I'm Going" with Dolly Parton and "Out in the Parking Lot" with Alan Jackson — and a bonus track, "Cornography." On November 6, 2006, the album "Time Well Wasted" won the Country Music Association CMA Award for Best Album. "Time Well Wasted" also won album of the year at the 2006 ACM Awards.

Paisley also contributed two original songs to the Disney film Cars. These can be found on the film's soundtrack. This was in recognition of his contribution to the "Route 66: Main Street America" television special. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, Paisley received four nominations: Best Country Album (for Time Well Wasted), Best Country Song (for "Alcohol"), Best Country Instrumental (for "Time Warp") and Best Country Vocal, Male (for "Alcohol").

Paisley's newest album, 5th Gear, was released in the United States on June 19, 2007. "Ticks" was the first single from the album, and quickly rose to #1 on the country music singles charts. The second single from the album, "Online," hit #1. The song contains the Brentwood High School marching band playing at the end of the song. The third single "Letter to Me" was another number one hit. The fourth single from the album is "I'm Still a Guy" which has also reached #1 making seven straight number one hits." The fifth single released in June 2008 comes from a re-issue of 5th Gear was released, featuring a slightly different re-recording of "Waitin' on a Woman", an album cut from Time Well Wasted, that received unsolicited airplay in late 2006. The earlier album cut has more prominent string guitar and violin parts, whereas the re-released version has lesser prominent versions for both of these, as well as a more "muted" musical tone.

As of February 24, 2008, Brad Paisley officially wrapped up the 2007 Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour. The tour visited 94 cities over a 10 month period and played for over 1,000,000 fans. Bonfires & Amplifiers 2007’s first show was April 26, 2007 and the tour was so successful early-on that a third leg was added extending it through February 2008. Taylor Swift, Kellie Pickler, Jack Ingram, Rodney Atkins and Chuck Wicks have all been show openers throughout the tour.

He has been nominated for three 2008 Grammy Awards: Best Country Album (for 5th Gear), Best Country Collaboration (for "Oh Love" with Carrie Underwood), and Best Country Instrumental (for "Throttleneck"). On February 10, 2008, he won his first Grammy award for Best Country Instrumental for "Throttleneck".

In March 2008, Brad Paisley announced his next tour, "The Paisley Party," a 42-date tour sponsored by Hershey's. The tour kicks off on June 11, 2008, in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Chuck Wicks, Julianne Hough and Jewel as the opening acts. Paisley is currently working on his seventh album, an instrumental album titled Play. A greatest hits album is also in the works.