Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Celebrate 27th Wedding Anniversary: A Timeline of Their Romance

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's love is keeping them young for the rest of their lives. 

The longtime couple is celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary on Oct. 6 after a whirlwind courtship and "quite a few" proposals which led them down the aisle in 1996. Today, the country superstars are parents to three grown daughters -- 26-year-old Gracie, 25-year-old Maggie, and 21-year-old Audrey -- and continue to serve up couple's goals everywhere they go. 

In an August interview with ET, McGraw explained how his and Hill's love has deepened each year, expressing, "I mean, I can't imagine it any other way."

In honor of their anniversary, the 56-year-old country crooner also posted a tribute to his wife on Instagram. 

"This is the very first picture ever taken of us, the very first time we ever met back in spring of 1994," he wrote "This was backstage of the "New Faces" show at the Country Radio Seminar......I fell for you in an instant!  Today is our 27th wedding anniversary and I fall for you everyday, every time you walk into the room, every time I see you in our 3 beautiful daughter's smiles. I just keep falling and always will.  Happy anniversary my love!"

Take a walk down memory lane with a timeline of the singers' timeless romance. 

1994

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw in 1994 - Ron Davis/Getty Images / Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

The rising country stars met for the first time at a show in 1994 but were both involved with other people at the time. McGraw was dating Kristine Donahue, while Hill's marriage to music executive Daniel Hill ended that year. 

March 1996

Sparks flew when Hill and McGraw joined forces for the Spontaneous Combustion Tour in 1996, which kicked off on March 14 of that year. One CMT reporter who was present for a press conference announcing the trek noted that, at the time, the pair appeared to be "certainly flirtatious." 

June 1996

Faith Hill & Tim McGraw during Andre Agassi Grand Slam For Children 1996 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. - KMazur/WireImage

Looking back on the moment Hill finally said "yes," McGraw said that he actually proposed to her "quite a few times" before that. 

"We had dated for a while. I actually asked her to marry me quite a few times and she kept saying no," he recalled in a 2021 video. "She said, 'I'm not going to get involved with another country singer, it's just not going to work out.'"

But that didn't keep McGraw from trying. The "Don't Take the Girl" singer got up the nerve to ask Hill one more time during the inaugural Heartland Stampede Music Festival. 

"They had these trailer houses set up. I'm getting ready to go onstage, and I had this sort of case that had this big mirror in it. She's standing there, and we're talking, and I said, 'Look, let's get married,'" he said in the clip. "And she says, 'You're asking me to marry you at a country music festival in a trailer house?' And I said, 'Well, it's pretty apropos if you think about it.' She goes, 'Are you serious?' And I said, 'Well, yeah, I'm serious.'"

McGraw left to perform his set, and by the time he got back, he had the answer that would seal their fate as one of country music's longest-lasting couples.

"I came off the stage and went back into my dressing room and Faith wasn't there, but I looked at the mirror. In lipstick, it said, 'Yes! I'm gonna be your wife,'" the singer said. "And we still have that mirror. And it was the best day of my life, that's for sure."

October 6, 1996

KMazur/WireImage

McGraw and Hill quietly married in a surprise ceremony in the "I Like It, I Love It" singer's hometown of Rayville, Louisiana. The couple invited their family to the celebration under the guise of a charity softball game. 

"We'd try to plan it a couple of times, but everybody kept finding out about it," McGraw shared in a 2011 interview on Live! With Regis and Kelly. 

"We got off the bus and all my family was there, and they were prepared to play softball," he continued. "And we got out in wedding clothes and got married under a Locust tree in my aunt's backyard."

But not everyone was thrilled about the secretive nature of the event. 

"My sisters were a little upset because they wanted to dress up," he said with a laugh. 

January 27, 1997

Singer Faith Hill and singer Tim McGraw attend the 24th Annual American Music Awards on January 27, 1997 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. - Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Hill showed off her growing baby bump as the couple stepped out for the 24th annual American Music Awards on Jan. 27, 1997, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.

May 5, 1997

Singer Faith Hill, singer Tim McGraw and daughter Gracie McGraw arrive from Nashville, Tennessee on November 17, 1997 at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. - Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

From newlyweds to new parents! Hill gave birth to the couple's first daughter, Gracie Katherine, on May 5, 1997. 

McGraw reflected on the life-changing moment of Gracie's arrival in a 2023 birthday tribute to his firstborn. 

"Your mom and I thought we knew love, then when you came along we realized what love really is," he wrote on Instagram. "You made our love for each other stronger and in turn, revealed a world of love that we had never known before. You, our first, our beloved Gracie. We are so proud of the young lady you have become. You make everyone you meet lives richer for it. You are a treasure and we love you so much." 

February 25, 1998

Grammy nominees Tim McGraw (L) and Faith Hill (R), wearing an Isaac Mizrahi dress, arrive for the 40th annual Grammy Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City 25 February. McGraw and Hill were nominated for their collaboration "It's Your Love." - STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images

The duo was nominated together at the 40th annual GRAMMY Awards for their hit collaboration, "It's Your Love." Although she was not yet showing, Hill was newly pregnant with the couple's second child at the time. 

August 12, 1998

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill attend the 33rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 22, 1998 at Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. - Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Double the love. Hill and McGraw joined the two-under-two club when they welcomed their second daughter, Maggie May, on Aug. 12, 1998. 

Never shy about showing love to his girls on social media, McGraw gushed over their "middle girl" in another 2023 birthday post as she turned 25. 

"We celebrate our Maggie today with so much pride and gratitude in our hearts for all the joy she has brought us," he wrote. "Maggie May, all that you have set out to do in your life so far, you have taken on with grace, passion and remarkable determination.  You are an inspiring young woman.  You are fierce and passionate and your mom, your sisters and I could not, absolutely could not, love you more!!!!!"

July 12, 2000

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw Perform at Madison Square Garden in 2000 - KMazur/WireImage

The family of four hit the road as McGraw and Hill kicked off their combined Soul2Soul Tour in the U.S. and Canada. 

February 21, 2001

Faith Hill (L) and Tim McGraw pose with her Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance ("Breathe"), and Best Country Album ("Breathe") as well as their Best Country Collaboration with Vocals Grammy ("Let's Make Love") backstage at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles 21 February 2001. - MIKE NELSON/AFP via Getty Images

First-time GRAMMY winners! Not only did Hill nab trophies for her hit album, Breathe, and single of the same name, but the real-life couple also won an award together for their duet, "Let's Make Love," in the Best Country Collaboration with Vocals category. 

December 6, 2001

Entertainer of the Year Tim McGraw and wife Faith Hill arrive November 7, 2001 at the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, Tennessee. - Adele Starr/Getty Images

Three's company for the McGraws, as they welcomed their third daughter, Audrey Caroline on Dec. 6, 2001. Hill later revealed that their youngest child was born "eight weeks premature," and that the family wasn't able to bring her home from the hospital until one day before Christmas Eve. 

"Every year, to celebrate Audrey's birthday, we decorate the tree on the sixth," Hill told Good Housekeeping in a 2007 interview. "It's a little bit of a challenge, keeping a live tree fresh for the entire month of December. But there's no other way we'd do it. We decorate on the sixth, and it has to be a live tree." 

June 6, 2004

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw at the premiere of 'The Stepford Wives' in Los Angeles. - Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

Hill celebrated her role in The Stepford Wives -- in which she starred opposite Nicole Kidman, Glenn Close, Bette Midler and Matthew Broderick -- at the film's Hollywood premiere with her husband by her side. 

Later, she would go on to reveal that her experience in the film soured her to the idea of working as an actress at the time.

"My career took off, no time, had babies, and I had done a couple of things," Hill said in a 2022 interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show. "I did Stepford Wives with an amazing cast. But it wasn’t the best experience, so I said I will never ever, ever, ever, ever do another one, a movie."

Oct. 6, 2004

Tim McGraw and wife Faith Hill during "Friday Night Lights" - World Premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, United States. - Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

McGraw made his big screen debut later that year in Peter Berg's film adaptation of Friday Night Lights. Hill was of course on hand to show her support at the premiere.

2005

James Devaney/WireImage

Although it's not exactly clear when he got inked, McGraw showed off a tattoo of his wife's name while walking around the streets of New York City in 2005. McGraw reportedly teased Hill during an interview with People the following year, after she said she wouldn't get a tattoo of his name on her body. "But, baby, look at my tattoo! That shows how much I love you," he reportedly said. 

February 8, 2006

Hill and McGraw won the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for the song, at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, in 2006. - Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc

The pair made magic in the studio once again with "Like We Never Loved at All," for Hill's album, Fireflies. The single earned them another GRAMMY Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. 

April 21, 2006

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw during Faith Hill and Tim McGraw in Concert at Madison Square Garden - June 23, 2006 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, United States. - G. Gershoff/WireImage

Hill and McGraw took their show on the road again for the Soul2Soul II North American tour, which ran from April 2006 to September 2007. 

Oct. 17, 2006

Country singer and actor Tim McGraw and his wife Faith Hill pose with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood 17 October 2006. - HECTOR MATA/AFP via Getty Images

Hill was all smiles as she witnessed McGraw receive a coveted star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The honor coincided with the release of McGraw's film, Flicka. 

April 23, 2007

Scott Gries/Getty Images

Another one! Hill and McGraw released their next collaborative single, "I Need You." The crossover hit was certified Platinum and peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. 

2008

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 10: Singer Tim McGraw and Singer Faith Hill at the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards at the Staples Center on February 10, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. - Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage

McGraw got sober in 2008 and credits Hill with playing an integral role in helping him along his journey. 

"I don’t think I could stand up straight without leaning on her in everything that I do," he said in a 2023 interview with Yahoo Entertainment, adding that abstaining from alcohol has not been what he would call a "linear path."

"There are setbacks and there are times you move forward and do great, and there are times you set back," he shared. "And that’ll probably [be] a process throughout the rest of my life and something that I have to be diligent about and really continue to work at."

Also in 2023, McGraw told Apple Music's Zane Lowe that he "would've died already" or "run [his] career into the ground" had he not married Hill when he did. 

"I was pretty sneaky about it for a while. But I was just overdoing stuff," he admitted. "Then I think when the kids got old enough that they could notice things, [that’s] when she finally said, 'You’ve got to figure this out.'" 

December 8, 2012

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw perform during the opening weekend of their limited-engagement "Soul2Soul" show at The Venetian on December 8, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The country music couple is scheduled to perform on 10 weekends through April 2013. at Venetian Hotel and Casino Resort on December 8, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. - Denise Truscello/WireImage

Taking Sin City by storm, the duo opened their Soul2Soul Las Vegas residency at The Venetian. 

June 5, 2014

C Flanigan/FilmMagic

McGraw copped a major feel on stage at the 2014 CMA Festival in Nashville, Tennessee, as they performed a new duet, "Meanwhile Back at Mama's." 

April 21, 2015

Gracie McGraw, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Audrey McGraw and Maggie McGraw attend TIME 100 Gala, TIME's 100 Most Influential People In The World at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 21, 2015 in New York City. - Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TIME

In a rare public sighting of the family of five, Hill and McGraw were joined by all three of their children at the TIME 100 Gala. 

October 2016

Recording artists Faith Hill, left, and Tim McGraw perform at the Ryman Auditorium during an announcement for their "Soul2Soul World Tour" on October 4, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. - John Shearer/Getty Images

Soul2Soul -- but make it global. The music superstars announced in October 2016 that they would be taking their next collaborative tour worldwide with Soul2Soul: The World Tour. The trek kicked on April 17, 2017, in the U.S. before venturing again through Canada and then over to Europe. 

Trae Patton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

But first, they brought their star power to The Voice as key advisors for season 11 of the NBC reality competition. 

Honorees Tim McGraw And Faith Hill during the Nashville Music City Walk Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Nashville Music City Walk of Fame on October 5, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. - Rick Diamond/Getty Images

It was clearly a big month for these lovebirds, as they were honored with adjacent stars on the Nashville Music City Walk of Fame. 

Nov. 17, 2017

After two decades of marriage, the twosome took their recording relationship to the next level with their first full album collaboration, titled The Rest of Our Life.

Aug. 20, 2020

Tim McGraw, wife Faith Hill and daughter Audrey Caroline McGraw pose backstage at the hit musical based on the Baz Luhrmann film "Moulin Rouge!" on Broadway at The Al Hirshfeld Theatre on January 18, 2020 in New York City. - Bruce Glikas/WireImage

With their youngest daughter graduating high school, McGraw opened up about how he and Hill were feeling about becoming empty nesters. 

"It's tough," he shared on The Today Show. "There's a part of you that's excited for them, you want them to go out and conquer the world and have fun and do all the things that kids do, but you don't want them to leave your protection. And you certainly don't want to feel like they don't need you anymore." 

Dec. 19, 2021

Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Wynn Las Vegas

McGraw and Hill joined forces on the small screen, co-starring in the buzzed-about Yellowstone prequel, 1883. 

"When we first started reading the script, 1883, it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever read -- both of us, and it's just truly incredible," McGraw told ET at the time. "I mean Taylor’s writing is what drew us to the entire project."

Aug. 24, 2023

McGraw released his new single, "Her," and opened up to ET about how it was inspired by Hill. 

"Oh, she loves it!" McGraw said, beaming when asked about his wife's reaction. "She makes me play it all the time... I've had enough of it, I don't wanna hear it, [but] she loves it!"

And it was love at first listen for Hill. McGraw recalled, "She loved it so much. She goes, 'This is about me right?' I go, 'Yeah, of course! Of course! You're the her."

McGraw also had a lot of praise for his wife and their kids when it came to their vocal talent, joking that he's "the worst singer" in the family.

"All three of them are great singers," he said of his daughters. "I'd love to do a song with all five of us at some point. I talk about it all the time and they're like, 'I ain't gonna sing with you, Dad.'"

"Maybe I'll talk them into it. Maybe they'll sort of grow out of that phase a little bit where they don't want to sing with me. They'll sing with Mom, but I'm probably not up to par with the rest of them," he said. "I'm the worst singer in the family. It's true. I'm pretty good, but I'm the worst singer in the family."

McGraw's new album, Standing Room Only, was released on Aug. 25. His Standing Room Only Tour will kick off March 14, 2024, in Jacksonville, Florida.

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