Top 5 Muses For Famous Songs

Tim McGraw wrote his 2023 song “Her” for his wife Faith Hill, who he’s been married to since 1996.

“Oh, she loves it,” McGraw told Entertainment Tonight of the song. “She makes me play it all the time. … I’ve had enough of it, I don’t want to hear it, [but] she loves it.”

“She loved it so much,” he added. “She goes, ‘This is about me, right?’ I go, ‘Yeah, of course, of course. You’re the ‘her.’”

In another interview last year, McGraw talked about how much Hill has meant to him in his life. He’s convinced that had he not married her at 29, either his career would have died, or he would have died himself!

The singer and talk show host Kelly Clarkson wrote her 2015 song “Piece By Piece” for Brandon Blackstock, who she was married to at the time. Though she would later undergo a bitter divorce from Blackstock that ended in 2021, she was in love with him when she wrote the song.

“It was a vulnerable song. … My husband, he came into my life, and he’s the complete opposite of how my father was. He was present. He wins for being around,” Clarkson said in a 2015 interview.

“That’s why I think it’s so funny when people try and be so mean in the press; I’m like, ‘Once your dad basically is like, “You’re unwanted,”‘ you can say anything, and it’s not going to bother me.”

Clarkson had an infamously difficult relationship with her father, who had not been in her life for many years when he died in 2018. Clarkson has said of “Piece By Piece” hat her husband’s presence in her life was a drastic contrast to the absence of her father. She also said this experience gave her tough skin, which helped her in doing things like dealing with critics

Vince Gill’s 2019 song “When My Amy Prays” was inspired by his wife Amy Grant, who he’s been married to since 2000.

“You know you’re from Nashville when you write a song about your wife, and she tells you your third verse could use a little work,” he told CMT after winning the 2021 Grammy for best country solo performance for “When My Amy Prays.”

Gill went on to talk about how much he loves Grant.

“[The song] is just a testament to how much I care about her, how dear she is to me in my life,” he continued. “Kindness is how she leads her life, and it’s the first thing you ever notice. It’s the first thing you ever experience, and it’s kind of unending.”

Related: Amy Grant Opens Up About Her Massive Brain Trauma From Near-Fatal Bike Accident

The country music star Garth Brooks dedicated his 2018 love song “Stronger Than Me” to his wife Trisha Yearwood, who he’s been married to since 2005.

“When I heard this song, I thought, ‘I want to take this to Trisha.’ And I said, ‘No,'” Brooks told Fox News at the time. “No matter how many people are in there, we’re going to be the only people in the room.”

Yearwood had never heard the song before Brooks performed it for her at the CMA Awards that year.

“I haven’t heard it yet. The last time that Garth surprised me like this is when he asked me to marry him,” she said before the show. “I’m like everybody else; I’m just as excited to hear it and a little bit nervous.”

Related: The Moment Garth Brooks Knew He Had to Have Trisha Yearwood

Paul McCartney’s beloved 1970 hit song  “Maybe I’m Amazed” was inspired by his late wife Linda, who he was married to from 1969 until she died of breast cancer in 1998. Since her passing, the lyrics to the classic song have an entirely different meaning for McCartney.

“As you say, [the song] was for Linda, but as time goes on and people say they like it, I always like to give up ownership and say, ‘Great, well, I hope this fits with your life,’” McCartney told NPR back in 2020.

“And you know, it’s very nice when people say, ‘We used this song in our wedding.’ That’s a huge compliment,” he added. “Once you’ve written [songs] and once you release them, they’re like birds. They fly away, and you have no control over them. And I’m happy for them to land in other people’s lives.”