If You're Reading This

"If You're Reading This" is the title of a song by American country music artist Tim McGraw. The song was first performed at the Academy of Country Music (ACM) awards, which were held in Las Vegas, Nevada and aired May 15, 2007 on CBS.^[1] Shortly after Tim's live performance, several radio stations began playing a telecast of the song, boosting it to a debut at #35 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts from unsolicited airplay. A remixed version of the live recording was later released to radio as a single, overlapping Tim's then-current single, "I Need You", (a duet with wife Faith Hill).

In November 2007, "If You're Reading This" reached a peak of #3 on the Billboard country charts, becoming Tim's forty-second Top Ten country hit overall. The song also peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is among the nominees for the 50th annual Grammy Awards in the category of Best Country Song.

1 About the song
2 Chart performance
3 Chart positions
4 References
5 External links

[edit] About the song

"If You're Reading This" is a tribute to the families of soldiers who have died.^[2] Its lyrics take the form of a letter written from a soldier to his family -- a letter that is intended to be sent only if the soldier dies ("If you're reading this / I'm already home").^[3]

Tim co-wrote the song, with Brad and Brett Warren of country duo The Warren Brothers, approximately three weeks before the ACM awards aired.^[1]^[4] The three were inspired by reading a magazine article on war casualties.^[3]

When McGraw performed the song at the ACM awards show, one hundred relatives of soldiers joined him onstage, under a banner that read "Families of Fallen Heroes".^[2] After performing the song, he received a standing ovation.^[1] It was leaked by newspapers onto the internet that Tim and his wife, Faith Hill, paid the expenses for the family members so that they could attend the show. This included airfare, hotels, and all other ground expenses.

[edit] Chart performance

Despite the lack of a studio recording, the song quickly become a hit on country radio after several stations began playing the CBS telecast of McGraw's live performance.^[5] As a result, it entered Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart at #35.^[4]^[6] Scott Siman, Tim's manager, had been working with both Tim's label (Curb Records) and radio stations to "address the fact that we don't have a studio recorded version of this song". A remixed version (with most of the audience noise removed, except for applause at the end) was released to radio in June 2007, while McGraw's then-current single "I Need You" (a Faith Hill duet) was also climbing the charts.^[7]^[8] Later presses of Tim's 2007 album Let It Go also include the remixed version.

"If You're Reading This" is the second song in McGraw's career that has charted from a live performance. In 2001, "unknown fans" taped McGraw's performance of the song "Things Change" during the CMA awards, and posted the recording to Napster; as a result, several stations downloaded and played the live telecast of that song.^[9]

[edit] Chart positions

Chart (2007)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs	3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	41
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	48
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs	24
Canadian Billboard Hot 100	81