On this day (March 28) in 1994, Tim McGraw released “Don’t Take the Girl” as the second single from his sophomore album Not a Moment Too Soon. The song became McGraw’s first No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, staying at the top of the survey for two weeks. More than three decades later, it is still among his most popular songs.
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Today, McGraw is nothing short of a superstar. He has notched 56 top 10 hits with 26 of those going to No. 1. He has also made waves in the acting world with roles in incredibly popular films and TV shows, including Friday Night Lights, The Blind Side, and 1883. However, his career got off to a relatively slow start.
[RELATED: The Meaning Behind “Don’t Take The Girl” by Tim McGraw]
McGraw released his debut single, “What Room Was the Holiday In” in 1991, and it failed to chart. He released three more singles from his self-titled debut album–“Welcome to the Club,” “Memory Lane,” and Two Steppin’ Mind”–which all failed to break into the top 40. Then, he found his first top 10 hit with “Indian Outlaw,” the lead single from his sophomore album. The track peaked at No. 8. It also marked the last time one of McGraw’s singles would miss the top five for the rest of the decade.
“Don’t Take the Girl” kicked off a string of massive hits that ran until 1999. He released 17 more singles throughout the ’90s, all of which reached the upper reaches of the Hot Country songs chart. Eleven of those singles reached No. 1.
Tim McGraw Found Success by Being True to Himself
It seems hard to believe that Tim McGraw wasn’t one of the artists who hit the ground running in the ’90s. Several of his peers burst onto the scene with hit albums and songs. However, that wasn’t the case for McGraw. Like its singles, his self-titled debut album failed to chart. Fortunately, though, that didn’t snuff his drive to continue making music, nor did it signal to executives at Curb Records that he was a lost cause.
In an interview with NPR, McGraw revealed that he went into his sophomore album with a different mindset. “My first album didn’t do anything. I like to say it went wood. But you learn,” he said. “When I did get a chance to do a second album I went in and thought, all right, this may be my last shot, so I’m going to go in and I’m going to do this album the way I want to do it, the way I want it to sound, the songs that I want to sing. And if I fail, I’m going to fail and I’m not going to be able to look around at anybody but me and say this is what I wanted to do and I failed at it,” he recalled.
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