20 Years Ago, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Embarked on a Record-Breaking Tour That Featured Taylor Swift as a Supporting Act
On this day (April 21) in 2006, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill kicked off their Soul2Soul II tour. The 118-stop trek kept the duo on the road until September 2007. It became one of the highest-grossing country music tours of all time, breaking a record once held by Garth Brooks. Interestingly, Taylor Swift, who was the opener on several dates, took the record less than 10 years later.
The journey began in 2000 with the couple’s 65-stop Soul2Soul tour. Nearly one million fans saw the show as it traveled across the nation. The setup was simple. Hill performed the first set, McGraw took the stage after her, and they closed the night with a handful of duets, including “It’s Your Love” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way.” Six years later, they came back bigger and better than ever.
[RELATED: Tim McGraw Recalls Advice He Gave Teenage Taylor Swift Before Superstardom]
The couple announced their second co-headlining tour in January 2006, and tickets began selling quickly. They did 74 shows, sold more than a million tickets, and grossed roughly $89 million. According to Today, it was the third-highest-grossing North American tour of the year behind the Rolling Stones and Barbara Streisand. It was the fifth-highest-grossing tour in the world in 2006. Moreover, the 2006 leg of Soul2Soul II was the highest-grossing country music concert of all time, breaking the record previously held by Garth Brooks.
The tour was so successful that the couple announced a second run of shows in February 2007. Rebranded Soul2Soul 2007, the new tour took them to cities they missed on the first trek. It brought the total number of shows to 118.
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Were Right About Taylor Swift
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill didn’t have opening acts for the first leg of the Soul2Soul II tour. Then, they added openers to select dates on the 2007 outing. Lori McKenna, Lance Miller, Halfway to Hazard, and Taylor Swift opened shows for them in various cities along the trek.
McGraw and Hill knew Swift was going places when they watched the young artist, just months removed from the release of her debut album, perform.
“Taylor was one of our opening acts,” McGraw recalled in a 2023 interview. “We spent a lot of time talking to her in the dressing room and stuff before and after the shows. Faith and I both said, ‘This girl, she’s going to be the biggest star in the world.’ She’s just so curious, which is a sign of great intelligence,” he added. “We had no doubt she was headed to do big things.”
They were right. Swift has become one of the biggest stars on the planet. Over the last two decades, she has earned a long list of accolades and awards. She has also set attendance records with her globe-spanning concerts. For instance, in 2014, her Red Tour broke Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s record and became the highest-grossing country music concert in history.
Featured Image by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage for Conde Nast Media Group
