FOR LOVE AND COUNTRY
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are outspoken in divisive times
During a concert in Washington, D.C., this fall, Tim McGraw performed Humble and Kind, the Grammy-winning ballad that urges people to “hold the door, say please, say thank you; don’t steal, don’t cheat and don’t lie.”
“Hope they’re listening down the street,” he cracked at the end of the song.
The past year, country music singers have stayed mostly quiet about their political beliefs, for fear of alienating any audience members. Yet McGraw and his wife, Faith Hill, are different. As the power couple released their first duet album on Friday, titled The Rest of Our Life, they are paving their own path yet remaining a dominant force.
McGraw has seen a career resurgence in recent years; and while Hill hasn’t released a solo album in more than a decade, they embarked on the Soul2Soul world tour together this year, performing their combined hits. This spring, they released a duet called Speak to a Girl, which urged respectful treatment of women months before Keith Urban’s Female.
McGraw and Hill also spoke out following the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. After U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his remarks about how there were some “very fine people” in the group that included neo-Nazis, McGraw posted a Facebook photo of Abraham Lincoln with the quote, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Hill tweeted, “WE MUST STOP THIS HATE. It is our responsibility to leave this world a better place period. Stand for what is right. Equality for all.”
Their outspokenness culminated last week in a Billboard cover story. After most country stars stayed silent about gun rights following the Las Vegas massacre at a country music festival last month — when a gunman shot and killed 58 people and injured hundreds more — McGraw and Hill were straightforward.
“Look, I’m a bird hunter,” McGraw told the magazine. “However, there is some common sense that’s necessary when it comes to gun control. They want to make it about the Second Amendment every time it’s brought up. It’s not about the Second Amendment.”
“In reference to the tragedy in Las Vegas, we knew a lot of people there. The doctors that (treated) the wounded, they saw wounds like you’d see in war,” Hill said. “That’s not right. Military weapons should not be in the hands of civilians.
“It’s everyone’s responsibility, including the government and the National Rifle Association, to tell the truth. We all want a safe country.”