The Truth About Faith Hill's First Marriage

Country music superstar Faith Hill isn't just known for her beautiful voice; she's also known for her near picture perfect marriage to fellow singer Tim McGraw. So some fans may be surprised to learn that Hill was married to another man before the country icon, and even kept his last name.

According to Amo Mama, Faith Hill met her first husband Daniel Hill when she was just 19 years old after she quit school to move to Nashville, where she hoped to begin her music career and find her birth parents. Daniel was a music producer and, when Faith accompanied a songwriter friend to a meeting with him, Daniel knew there was something special about her. Daniel told Good Housekeeping, "I was immediately floored by her presence and I hadn't even heard her sing yet."

After only 15 months of dating, the couple later married in 1988 when Faith was just 20 years old. Years later, Faith told People that she had doubts about the marriage. "I was young. I just jumped in the fire way too soon," she said.

During her first marriage, Faith also almost gave up her dreams of becoming a country star, as she was getting frustrated with the music industry. "Her priorities seemed to shift toward more domestic pursuits, such as cooking and decorating our home," Daniel recalled. Yet, Daniel continued to encourage Faith to keep pursuing music. And surprisingly enough, it wasn't her success that drove them apart. It was something else.

Faith Hill never revealed exactly how she met her birth mother, but she did discuss how doing so led to some answers she was seeking and how it helped her healing process. "It was the awe of seeing someone you came from," she told People of their first meeting. "It fills something."

After years of searching, the life-altering experience of finding her birth mother changed Faith and her world around her, including her marriage. Daniel Hill told Good Housekeeping that "meeting her birth mother had a profound impact on Faith, which led to a profound failure of our marriage. I was part of her old world, and she had to let that world go." Faith and Daniel ultimately divorced in 1994 after almost five years of marriage, but Daniel holds no grudges toward the superstar. He told People that "there is no bitterness" and that he is "proud of her success."

Faith also only had good feeling about their split, telling Good Housekeeping, "I was going through so much. I was like a flower trying to bud. Marriage wasn't what I needed. It was a disguise. That's not to say anything bad about the person I married. But what I needed was to deal with the issues of my own life." Faith not only dealt with her issues, she thrived. She now not only has a successful music career, but also a beautiful family with Tim McGraw.