Tim McGraw’s biggest hit, “Live Like You Were Dying” was the lead single from the album of the same name. It was released in June of 2004 and went on to become #1 on the Country charts.  It also, burst onto the Hot 100 (Pop Chart,) which at the time was quite an accomplishment.

The story behind “Live Like You Were Dying” and how the song got to Tim McGraw begins one day when I was really heavily into doing A&R for Tim.   At that time, A&R was my exclusive full-time job. That day I got a call from Craig Wiseman’s publisher.  At the time Craig’s publishing was through BMG. It was Chris Oglesby calling me. I still remember exactly where I was, getting on the interstate at Demonbreun, heading home after work around 5 o’clock.  I answered the phone and Chris said, “Hey, I just want to put a little bug in your ear. I heard a Craig Wiseman song just a little bit ago that I think you might really want to listen to for Tim right away.”  So I answered, “Okay, where do I go to hear the song? What’s the deal on it?” He told me, “Well, Craig is in the studio right now. He’s recording the demo

right now. I just left the studio.”

Back in the day, when you were listening to new songs, it was a very competitive market, and I would always try to get to a great song first to put it on hold for my artist.  Sometimes it would already be on hold, and I’d have to take a second hold.  Other times I’d get the first hold and then, if the song didn’t work, I’d give it to the second hold. There was a lot of competition among A&R people, labels, and independent A&R people like me. We all wanted to get to the great song first, hear it first, and put it on hold first. 

So, I said, “Okay, what studio is Craig in? “Craig was recording in a studio called County Q., where did all his demos at the time. Q was a really popular studio in Berry Hill.  So, I whipped that car around, and drove straight to Berry Hill. I rushed into the control room to talk to Craig. They played “Live Like You Were Dying” for me with the scratch vocal, before it was even mixed, as they were finishing up the last guitar overdub. I was like “Oh my god, you’ve GOT to hold this song for TIM!! They finished the song that night., Craig got it to me the next day and I sent it to Tim. Of course he loved it.  It ended up being Tim’s biggest songs, his biggest hit.