Live Like You Were Dying – Tim McGraw | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Country (#1); 2004
Story Behind The Song By Harris Sterling
In 2004, Tim McGraw released Live Like You Were Dying as the lead single from the album of the same name. Written by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman, the song became one of the most significant hits of McGraw’s career.
Produced by Byron Gallimore and Tim McGraw, the recording combined contemporary country instrumentation with a reflective vocal performance. Released in the summer of 2004, the single reached #1 on the Billboard Country chart and remained there for seven weeks.
The lyric tells the story of a man who receives a life-threatening diagnosis and reexamines his priorities. Rather than focusing solely on fear, the narrative emphasizes gratitude, reconciliation, and making the most of time.
Live Like You Were Dying earned multiple awards, including the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance, and remains one of Tim McGraw’s signature recordings.
Produced by:
Byron Gallimore
Tim McGraw
Lyrics Written by:
Tim Nichols
Craig Wiseman
Awards:
Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance (2005)
Grammy Award for Best Country Song (2005)
Harris Sterling
Independent music label executive Harris Sterling has worked in the music industry for most of his career.
As Executive Vice President for independent music label Madacy Entertainment, he led the strategic marketing and business development for the label, negotiating agreements with the major record labels to release custom music compilations under license with major brands, such as Ford Motor Company, Crayola, Care Bears and Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Harris also led Madacy’s strategy for the licensing of its entire music catalogue to Apple for their launch of the IPOD.
In 2011, Harris co-founded Starting Five Media, a company that specializes in recording and licensing custom renditions of popular songs as well as clearing the rights to the music composition for use by their clients in media projects.
Harris has negotiated publishing and master recording rights for many Top 40 songs for use in various media projects, TV Commercials and more.