On the Charts 27 Years Ago, Tim McGraw Was on Top With This Tearjerker Originally Recorded by Rodney Crowell

First topping the country charts with 1994’s “Don’t Take the Girl”, Tim McGraw has since become quite familiar with that spot. The incoming Country Music Hall of Famer boasts an impressive 49 No. 1 singles, including “Please Remember Me”, which reached the summit on this day (May 16) in 1999.

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This Country Legend Sang Backup on Tim McGraw’s Version

Four years earlier, Rodney Crowell had released the song as the lead (and only) single from his 1995 album, Jewel of the South.

Written by Crowell with lyricist Will Jennings, “Please Remember Me” originally peaked at No. 69 on the Billboard country chart. Later, Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt recorded their own version, but never released it as a single.

Four years later, Tim McGraw put his own spin on the bittersweet breakup ballad, releasing “Please Remember Me” as the lead single from his fifth studio album, A Place in the Sun.

McGraw was near the peak of his career when he recorded “Please Remember Me”, and that streak continued. Thanks to the country crooner’s emotional performance and harmony vocals from Patty Loveless, the song spent five weeks atop the country singles chart. It also gave the “It’s Your Love” singer his highest-charting career entry on the all-genre Hot 100, peaking at number 10.

Additionally, “Please Remember Me” earned McGraw recognition at the 2000 Grammy Awards, earning a nod for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. The album’s third single, “My Best Friend”, received a nomination in the same category the next year.

[RELATED: 3 Tim McGraw Songs That Prove He Should Be in the Country Music Hall of Fame]

The Almost-Breakup Hit

Tim McGraw’s vocal performance may have made “Please Remember Me” a hit, but the story is ripped straight from Rodney Crowell’s life.

Sometime after his amicable divorce from first wife Rosanne Cash, the “After All This Time” singer met his second wife, singer-songwriter Claudia Church, while shooting a music video in Nashville.

“One kiss and I was staggering drunk on her for the next year and a half,” Crowell wrote for the Oxford American.

However, the two-time Grammy winner succumbed to fear of commitment and ended the relationship. While the two were apart, he co-wrote “Please Remember Me” with Will Jennings. You’ll find better love / Strong as it ever was / Deep as the river runs / Warm as the morning sun / Please remember me.

Crowell intended the song as a final good-bye to Church. However, the two reconciled instead, and have been married since 1998.

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