Live Like You Were Dying

Last updated
Live Like You Were Dying
Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 24, 2004 (2004-08-24)
Genre Country
Length64:00
Label Curb Records
Producer
Tim McGraw chronology
Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors
(2002)
Live Like You Were Dying
(2004)
Reflected: Greatest Hits Vol. 2
(2006)
Singles from Live Like You Were Dying
  1. "Live Like You Were Dying"
    Released: June 7, 2004
  2. "Back When"
    Released: August 30, 2004
  3. "Drugs or Jesus"
    Released: January 17, 2005
  4. "Do You Want Fries with That"
    Released: May 23, 2005
  5. "My Old Friend"
    Released: September 20, 2005
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic (61/100) [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [2]
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]
Billboard Positive [4]
Cross Rhythms Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [5]
Entertainment Weekly B [6]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Mojo Star full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The New York Times Mixed [7]
USA Today Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [8]

Live Like You Were Dying is the eighth studio album by American country music artist Tim McGraw. It was released on August 24, 2004 by Curb Records. It was recorded in a mountaintop studio in upstate New York. It entered the Billboard 200 chart at number one, with sales of 766,000 copies in its first week. [9] The album was certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA for shipping four million copies, [10] and was nominated for Best Country Album at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards. That same year at the Grammys, the title track from Live Like You Were Dying was nominated for Song of the Year and won in the categories Best Country Song and Best Male Country Vocal Performance. Five singles were released from the album, all were top 15 hits on the Hot Country Songs chart, two of which hit #1.

Contents

Content

The title track was the first single from the album. The song peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, held it for seven weeks, and peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. [11] The song won a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. The music video for the title track prominently featured McGraw's father, former baseball player Tug McGraw, who had died of brain cancer. This song was also the number one country song of 2004 according to Billboard Year-End.

The next single from this album is "Back When", which also reached #1 on Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The third single, "Drugs or Jesus" peaked at #14, making it the first McGraw single since 1993 not to reach the country Top 10 (not counting "Tiny Dancer"). "Do You Want Fries with That" was the fourth single and peaked at #5, and the fifth and final single, "My Old Friend", peaked at #6.

"How Bad Do You Want It" was featured as the theme song to CMT's Trick My Truck. "Can't Tell Me Nothin'" was previously recorded by Travis Tritt on his 2002 album Strong Enough .

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."How Bad Do You Want It"
3:44
2."My Old Friend"3:37
3."Can't Tell Me Nothin'"
  • Steve Bogard
  • Rick Giles
3:08
4."Old Town New"5:00
5."Live Like You Were Dying"
4:58
6."Drugs or Jesus"4:39
7."Back When"
4:59
8."Something's Broken"
3:42
9."Open Season on My Heart"3:39
10."Everybody Hates Me"
3:28
11."Walk Like a Man" Tom Douglas 3:35
12."Blank Sheet of Paper"4:07
13."Just Be Your Tear"
4:47
14."Do You Want Fries with That"
  • Beathard
  • Kerry Kurt Phillips
3:59
15."Kill Myself"3:07
16."We Carry On"
  • Slater
  • Douglas
4:12

Personnel

Tim McGraw & The Dance Hall Doctors

Background vocals

Strings on tracks 5, 6, 11 & 15

Production

Studios

Chart positions

Live Like You Were Dying debuted on the US Billboard 200 chart at number one, his third number-one album, and on the Top Country Albums at number one, making it his seventh number one on that chart.

Sales and certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [22] Platinum100,000^
United States (RIAA) [23] 4× Platinum4,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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Samuel Timothy McGraw is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums. 10 of those albums have reached number one on the Top Country Albums charts, with his 1994 breakthrough album Not a Moment Too Soon being the top country album of 1994. In total, McGraw's albums have produced 65 singles, 25 of which have reached number one on the Hot Country Songs or Country Airplay charts. Three of these singles – "It's Your Love", "Just to See You Smile", and "Live Like You Were Dying" – were respectively the top country songs of 1997, 1998, and 2004 according to Billboard Year-End. He has also won three Grammy Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music awards, 11 Country Music Association (CMA) awards, 10 American Music Awards, and three People's Choice Awards. His Soul2Soul II Tour, which was done in partnership with his wife, Faith Hill, is one of the highest-grossing tours in country music history, and one of the top five among all genres of music. He has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

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