Country singer Tim McGraw got back in the saddle this weekend, performing his first concert in almost a year after taking time off to recover from multiple back and knee surgeries.
The “Live Like You Were Dying” singer took the stage at the Bridgestone Arena on May 31 to headline Nashville’s inaugural Music City Rodeo, presented by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
Country star Reba McEntire opened the three-day event with a performance on May 29, while Jelly Roll entertained rodeo-goers the following day. McGraw closed out the final evening with a 90-minute concert featuring his band, The Dancehall Doctors.
During his set, the Louisiana native was joined by his three daughters—Gracie, 28; Audrey, 23; and Maggie, 26—whom he shares with his wife of almost 30 years, singer Faith Hill, who helped him sing his 2007 single “Last Dollar (Fly Away).”
McGraw, 58, was forced to take time away after undergoing several surgeries last year, including a double knee replacement.
The Grammy Award-winning singer discussed his health struggles during a May 23 appearance on “The Bobby Bones Show,” noting that he had his first back surgery before embarking on his Standing Room Only Tour, which kicked off in March 2024.
However, his back troubles persisted, leading his knees to go out a few weeks later.
“Soon as I got off tour, I went in and had the surgeries done, and then I had my knee surgeries done, and then in the process of recovering from my knee surgeries, my back went out again. I had to have another back surgery,” he explained. “I’m on the upswing now. Some mornings are good, some mornings it takes a little while, but it’s getting there.”
McGraw, who released his self-titled debut album in 1993, has almost a dozen concerts scheduled throughout the rest of the year.
He is set to headline a pregame concert at the MLB Speedway Classic on Aug. 2 before the Atlanta Braves face off against the Cincinnati Reds at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.
Later that month, he will perform the first-ever concert at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, a baseball field built for the 1989 Kevin Costner-led film of the same name.
“I know my dad would have loved to see this one,” McGraw shared on Instagram while promoting the concert earlier this year. “Let’s make history together.”
