2000

Tim McGraw

June 03

Trouble Up North

McGraw and pal Kenny Chesney are arrested following a concert in Orchard Park, N.Y., after Chesney allegedly mounts a policeman's horse. Afraid that his friend would fall down, McGraw holds back the officers and is arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault, menacing and resisting arrest. Chesney is arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct, the Buffalo News reports. When they go to trial the following year, they are cleared on all charges.

June 12

Hill Horses Around

While waiting for a court date, McGraw performs in Houston. Much to the audience's delight, Hill unexpectedly strides onstage in a police uniform, slaps cuffs on her husband and leads him away. A month later, the couple joins forces on the Soul2Soul tour, which grosses $50 million.

2001

Tim McGraw

December 06

An Early Arrival

McGraw and Hill's third daughter Audrey Caroline (named after Hill, whose given name is Audrey) is born eight weeks early, weighs only 3-lbs. 11-oz. and has undeveloped lungs. In 2006, however, Hill tells PEOPLE that a recovered Audrey had become "the feistiest one of them all."

2002

Tim McGraw

November 26

Full-Speed Success

McGraw releases Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors, which sells 602,000 copies in its first week. He fulfills a promise that he'll buy all the band members Harleys if their album sells a half-million copies in that time period, McGraw buys the three Harleys and a few vintage cars. With his band, McGraw records nine albums, which produce 25 No. 1 singles, selling more than 33 million copies.

2004

Tim McGraw

January 05

Musical Therapy

Tug McGraw dies of brain cancer and, at his request, spends his last days in the guest cabin of his son's Tennessee farm. Later that year, McGraw releases his wildly popular album, Live Like You Were Dying, which spends 10 weeks at No. 1. Though the album wasn't planned as a tribute to Tug, McGraw tells Billboard that recording it shortly after his father's death was "therapeutic."

Tim McGraw

October 08

On-Screen Hit

McGraw gains acting cred for his role as an alcoholic and abusive father in Friday Night Lights. He earns an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Breakthrough Male.

2006

Tim McGraw

Summer

Family Values Tour

McGraw and Hill again hit the road together for their Soul2Soul II tour, and Billboard magazine dubs them "the king and queen of country music." McGraw tells PEOPLE, "I love to see her come offstage [after a solo] and go, 'Yes! It was awesome.' And I say to her, 'Oh yeah? Watch this!'"

Tim McGraw

October 17

Shooting Star

McGraw receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At the ceremony, he jokes, "I really still don't know how it happens – maybe they made a mistake or something." Later that month, McGraw stars as a Wyoming rancher in Flicka and does his own riding and roping in the film. Hill, who helps him memorize his lines, isn't a huge fan of his kissing scene with onscreen wife Maria Bello. "Uh," he tells PEOPLE, "it wasn't her favorite part [of the movie]."

2007

Tim McGraw

March 27

McGraw's Let It Go

McGraw releases his 11th album, Let It Go, the follow-up to 2004's smash hit Live Like You Were Dying. Let It Go debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sells 325,000 copies in its first week. This is McGraw's fourth No. 1 album and his ninth on Billboard's Top Country Albums list. Billboard writes of his latest work: "This is one of the best interpretations of the country tradition by McGraw yet ... Let It Go was well worth the wait and McGraw is still at the top of the heap."

2008

Tim McGraw

September

The Family Man Covers PEOPLE

McGraw appears on the cover of PEOPLE's country music special issue, where he talks romance (he rented a luxury yacht in Greece for Hill's 40th birthday last year) and reveals his new tattoo ("DHD" above his ankle for his longtime band the Dancehall Doctors). "She's the boss, that's for sure," McGraw says of his wife of nearly 12 years. "And that's the way I like it. That way I don't have to think!"

Photo Credits

BIOGRAPHY (top to bottom): Kevin Mazur/WireImage; Courtesy Tim McGraw; Ralph Nelson/Universal; Cliff Watts; Roger Karnbad/Celebrity Photo; amazon.com

Edited by Mai Dinh, Janet Murphy