Tim McGraw's mum had 'complete meltdown' after hearing heartwarming 'I Called Mama'

2 October 2020, 15:22 | Updated: 26 October 2020, 00:03

Tim McGraw has revealed his mum had a "complete meltdown" after hearing his touching song 'I Called Mama' for the first time from his new Here On Earth album.

Speaking exclusively to Smooth Country during a new interview, Tim revealed the song dedication left his mother in tears - and even pointed out her photo now makes up the artwork for the track.

Tim, 53, also revealed the best pieces of advice his mum, known as Betty Trimble, has given to him over the years.

Tim told Smooth Country: “My mom's given me a lot of advice, wanted or not. She’s given me a lot of advice, and still does.

Tim McGraw - I Called Mama

"But you know, my mom's always been very close to me. I sent it to her for the very first time. She’s the artwork. The cover of that single is a picture of my mom in high school right before she found out about me. So I sort of wrecked her senior year.

"But then I sent her the song and I got just a bunch of crying emojis back. So I knew better than to call her because I knew that she was having a complete meltdown when she heard the song.

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"And that song grew in a different way for us because when we first recorded that song, it was certainly about something hitting you hard in life and going to who your backbone is and who your stabilising forces are in your life. And that’s, for most people, that’s their mom. It certainly is for me."

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My mama saw the lyric video yesterday and sent me this. #ICALLEDMAMA

A post shared by Tim McGraw (@thetimmcgraw) on May 9, 2020 at 8:54am PDT

Tim noted that due to government-imposed restrictions all around the world this year due to the coronavirus, the song was given a deeper meaning.

He continued to Smooth Country's Rory O'Connor: "But then as the world changed and we were mixing the song and finishing up the song, it really became about a much bigger thing.

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"It really became about, who are the people in your life who you can count on to lean on during times like this? When times are crazy and when the world seems to be spinning out of control. Who are those people that you can lean on?

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Now more than ever, I’ve been reminded of the importance of human connection in our lives. “I Called Mama” is a song about connecting back to what grounds us when life shakes us up. We should all call Mama more often… or whoever those people in our lives are that keep us connected to what really matters.  This song really hits home for me, and I hope it does for you, too.  Pre-add and pre-save the song now so you can be the first to listen when it drops.  Available 5.8 (Link in bio) #ICALLEDMAMA

A post shared by Tim McGraw (@thetimmcgraw) on Apr 30, 2020 at 2:54pm PDT

"And more importantly, I think it made you think of who are the people that look at you as the rock that they can lean on when times are going crazy - and can you be there for them?”

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Tim revealed it became trickier to release an album during 2020, but added: "Luckily we’d got most of it done. We’d just recorded like two or three songs just as the lockdown started - right before it started happening we recorded the last bits of the songs."

Tim's new album Here On Earth is available now.