Humble and Kind

"Humble and Kind"
Single by Tim McGraw
from the album Damn Country Music
ReleasedJanuary 20, 2016 (2016-01-20)
GenreCountry[1]
Length4:20
LabelBig Machine
Songwriter(s)Lori McKenna
Producer(s)
Tim McGraw singles chronology
"Lovin' Lately"
(2016) 		"Humble and Kind"
(2016) 		"How I'll Always Be"
(2016)

"Humble and Kind" is a song written by Lori McKenna and first released by American country music singer Tim McGraw on January 20, 2016, as the second single from his fourteenth studio album, Damn Country Music. McKenna later recorded her rendition of the song for her eighth studio album, The Bird and the Rifle, released in July 2016.[2] Among several other wins and nominations, the song won the award for Best Country Song at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, "Video of the Year" at the 2016 CMT Music Awards, "Song of the Year" at 2016 CMA Awards and "Country Song of the Year" at 2016 American Music Awards. It has been certified platinum and reached the number one position on the country music charts in both Canada and the United States.

Lori McKenna, the writer of "Humble and Kind".

The song was written by Lori McKenna.[3] In an interview with CMT published in July 2016, McKenna revealed the song was written for her husband and their five kids and is her list of all the things she wanted to make sure she'd told them.[2]

McGraw and frequent collaborator Byron Gallimore co-produced the song.[4]

Lori McKenna version

On July 8, 2016, Lori McKenna released her rendition of "Humble and Kind" as a single from her album, The Bird and the Rifle, released on July 29, 2016.[2]

Music video

Oprah Winfrey provided footage for the song's music video.

McGraw released the video to the song on his Facebook page on January 21, 2016.[5] At the time of the video release, the song was expected to be released as the second single from the album in early February.[5] The video was the result of a brainstorm McGraw had while running on a treadmill and seeing a 30-second trailer for Oprah Winfrey's Belief series. After taking some initiative, McGraw got Winfrey to make available footage for the video.[6] The video, which was directed by Wes Edwards, featured scenes from around the world from Winfrey's fall 2015 documentary series.[3] The video won the top honor, "Video of the Year", at the 2016 CMT Music Awards.[7]

Promotion

The song and video of "Humble and Kind" has its own website intended to gather related stories about acts of kindness that have been shared with the hashtag #stayhumbleandkind.[3] The day after the music video was released, Winfrey tweeted her approval of the video, saying "TIM, I love this song. Every word feels true."[8] McGraw performed the song on the April 3, 2016 ACM Awards.[9]

Book

A bound edition of "Humble and Kind" was released on May 17, 2016, in conjunction with graduation season by Hachette Books. In addition to the lyrics and illustrations, the book edition features an introduction by McGraw and an epilogue by McKenna.[10] McGraw pledged his book proceeds to the Neighbor's Keeper Fund of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.[11]

Critical response

Chris Parton of Country Weekly described "Humble and Kind"'s video as "the touching, lump-in-your-throat" kind.[5] Stephen L. Betts of Rolling Stone described the video as one that takes "universal scenes of faith and life and combines them with an understated performance from McGraw, captured by a 360-degree turntable lighting rig".[3] According to Christina Vinson of Townsquare Media's blog site, The Boot, the video, which presents a song from the perspective of "a parent sending their child into the world", will resonate across a wide-ranging audience. McGraw, who has three daughters with his wife Faith Hill had just sent his oldest daughter off to college in the fall before the song was released.[12]

Accolades

Year Association Category Result
2016 CMT Music Awards[13] Video of the Year Won
CMA Awards[14] Song of the Year Won
American Music Awards[15] Favorite Country Song Won
2017 Grammy Awards[16] Best Country Song Won
ACM Awards[17] Video of the Year Nominated
Single Record of the Year Nominated
Song of the Year Nominated

Commercial performance

"Humble and Kind" first entered Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart at No. 45 for chart dated February 6, 2016.[18] In late March, the song became McGraw's fifty-second Top 10 country hit.[19] Tim McGraw performed the song at the 2016 ACM Awards, which pushed its sales to 64,000 for the week, as well as the song's ranking to No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs, his 26th No. 1 on the chart.[20][21] The single was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on September 20, 2016.[22] The song reached its million sales mark in December 2016,[23] and has sold 1,380,000 copies in the US as of November 2019.[24]

Charts and certifications

References

  1. ^ "Damn Country Music - Tim McGraw". Allmusic. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Bonaguro, Alison (July 7, 2016). ""Humble and Kind" Meant Spaghetti Day for Lori McKenna". CMT. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Betts, Stephen L. (January 21, 2016). "See Tim McGraw's Oprah-Assisted 'Humble and Kind' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  4. ^ Skates, Sarah (September 15, 2015). "Tim McGraw Says 'Damn Country Music' On Upcoming Album". Music Row. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Parton, Clint (January 21, 2016). "Tim McGraw's Touching "Humble and Kind" Music Video". Country Weekly. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  6. ^ Chestang, Raphael (January 20, 2016). "EXCLUSIVE: Tim McGraw Explains the Role Oprah Winfrey Had in Making His 'Humble and Kind' Music Video". ETonline. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  7. ^ "Tim McGraw wins for 'Humble and Kind' video". The Washington Post. June 9, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.[dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Tim McGraw Shares Message Of 'Humble And Kind'". AllAccess.com. January 22, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  9. ^ McCarthy, Amy (March 21, 2016). "Tim McGraw's 'Humble and Kind' Is Being Made Into a Book". TheBoot.com. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  10. ^ "Tim McGraw to publish "Humble and Kind" book". CBS News. Associated Press. March 17, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  11. ^ "Tim McGraw's 'Humble and Kind' Inspires New Book: Lori McKenna-penned song will be turned into a hardcover, set to hit stores in May". Rolling Stone. March 18, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  12. ^ Vinson, Christina (January 20, 2016). "Tim McGraw Selects Emotional 'Humble and Kind' as Next Single [LISTEN]". The Boot. Townsquare Media. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  13. ^ Yahr, Emily (June 9, 2016). "CMT Music Awards: Best and worst moments; Tim McGraw wins in an upset". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  14. ^ Finan, Eileen (November 2, 2016). "Watch 'Humble & Kind' Songwriter Lori McKenna Sing the CMA-Winning Tim McGraw Hit She Wrote". People. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  15. ^ Park, Andrea (November 20, 2016). "AMAs 2016: List of winners at the American Music Awards". CBS News. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  16. ^ "Grammy Awards 2017: See the Full Winners List". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  17. ^ Hautman, Nicholas (April 2, 2017). "ACM Awards 2017: Complete List of Nominees and Winners". Us Weekly. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  18. ^ "Hot Country Songs". February 6, 2016.
  19. ^ "Cole Swindell & Carrie Underwood Take Over Country Songs Charts". Billboard. March 15, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  20. ^ Jim Asker (April 12, 2016). "Tim McGraw Tops Hot Country Songs, Merle Haggard's Sales Surge". Billboard.
  21. ^ Jim Asker (April 12, 2016). "Chris Stapleton, Jason Aldean & More See Sales Growth, Country Chart Moves From ACM Awards". Billboard.
  22. ^ "American album certifications – Tim McGraw – Humble and Kind". Recording Industry Association of America.
  23. ^ Bjorke, Matt (December 19, 2016). "Top 30 Digital Singles Chart: December 19, 2016". Roughstock.
  24. ^ a b Bjorke, Matt (November 30, 2019). "Top 30 Digital Country Songs: November 24, 2019". Rough Stock. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  25. ^ "Tim McGraw Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  26. ^ "Tim McGraw Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard.
  27. ^ "Tim McGraw Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  28. ^ "Tim McGraw Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  29. ^ "Tim McGraw Chart History (Country Airplay)". Billboard.
  30. ^ "Tim McGraw Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  31. ^ "Hot 100 Songs - Year-End 2016". Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  32. ^ "Adult Contemporary Songs: Year End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  33. ^ "Country Airplay Songs – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  34. ^ "Hot Country Songs – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  35. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2023 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  36. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Tim McGraw – Humble and Kind". Music Canada.
  37. ^ "American single certifications – Tim McGraw – Humble and Kind". Recording Industry Association of America.