From 'My Best Friend' to 'The Rest of Our Life': Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Mark 30 Years
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have shared plenty of milestones over the years, but one stretch of the calendar lines up in a way that's hard to overlook. Their wedding anniversary falls on October 6, and two of Tim's love songs tied to their marriage were released on the two days right before it, nearly two decades apart. In 2026, October 6 marks 30 years of marriage for the couple, and their story starts right here in Louisiana.
October 6, 1996: A Wedding in Rayville
We've told the story of how Tim and Faith fell for each other before. In our look at their love story, we followed two artists crossing paths on tour in 1996, a romance that started somewhere between soundcheck and showtime. What came next was a wedding with a Louisiana address.
Tim grew up in Start, Louisiana, and when it came time to marry, he brought Faith home. The two were married in a quiet ceremony on October 6, 1996, in Rayville, Louisiana, just down the road from where he was raised in Richland Parish. As the story is often told, Tim had proposed backstage on that same tour, and Faith answered by writing her reply on the mirror in his dressing room trailer.
Their music together soon followed with It's Your Love in 1997, and the songs kept coming. Two of them arrived on the days right before their anniversary.
October 4, 1999: My Best Friend
Three years after the wedding, Tim released My Best Friend to country radio on October 4, 1999. The song was the third single from his album A Place in the Sun, which came out on May 4, 1999.
Tim didn't write the song. It was co-written by Aimee Mayo and Bill Luther, but he has said it fit his life closely. Tim has shared that when he sings it, he dedicates every word to Faith, and in an interview with country.com, recounted by Country Now, he said that after first hearing it,
"I felt like I had sat down and wrote it."
Listeners connected with it too. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, and it was his final single of the 1990s, closing out the decade with one more No. 1. More than 25 years later, it remains a fixture at weddings and first dances.
October 5, 2017: The Rest of Our Life
Eighteen years later, on October 5, 2017, Tim and Faith released The Rest of Our Life, the title track and lead single from their first full-length duet album together. The song was written by Ed Sheeran alongside Amy Wadge, Johnny McDaid, and Steve Mac, and it reads like a set of vows set to music, a promise about growing older side by side.
The album The Rest of Our Life followed in November 2017, and the couple took the music on the road with their Soul2Soul: The World Tour. After two decades of marriage at the time, the song played as both a love letter and a look ahead.
Back to Back to Back
Line the dates up and they fall in a neat row: My Best Friend on October 4, The Rest of Our Life on October 5, and the wedding anniversary on October 6. Whether by design or by happy coincidence, it makes for a fitting lead up to their anniversary each year, with two songs about their love arriving just ahead of the date it all began.
For Louisiana, the story carries a hometown connection. A Richland Parish native came home to say "I do," and the songs that followed have soundtracked countless weddings across the state ever since.
Happy anniversary to Tim and Faith, from all of us at Louisiana Country Music.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When did Tim McGraw and Faith Hill get married?
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill were married on October 6, 1996, in Rayville, Louisiana.
Where is Tim McGraw from?
Tim McGraw grew up in Start, Louisiana, in Richland Parish, near Rayville, where he and Faith Hill were married.
When was My Best Friend by Tim McGraw released?
My Best Friend was released to country radio on October 4, 1999, as the third single from A Place in the Sun. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
Who wrote The Rest of Our Life by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill?
The Rest of Our Life was written by Ed Sheeran, Amy Wadge, Johnny McDaid, and Steve Mac. Tim and Faith released it as a single on October 5, 2017.
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