Tim McGraw has acknowledged that the heartbreaking song “I Called Mama” off his recent Here On Earth album caused his mother to have a “complete meltdown” when she first heard it.

In a recent interview, Tim exclusively told Smooth Country that his mother cried during the song dedication and that her picture currently serves as the music’s cover art.

The 53-year-old Tim also shared some of the guidance his mother Betty Trimble has provided him over the years.

Tim admitted to Smooth Country, “My mum has given me a lot of advice, whether I wanted it or not. She has provided me with a lot of advice and still does.

But my mother and I have always been quite close. I sent it to her for the very first time. She is a masterpiece. My mother is depicted on the single’s cover in a high school shot, soon before she learned about me.

“However, when I emailed her the song, all I received in return were sad emojis. Therefore, I was aware that I shouldn’t call her because I knew she would freak out as soon as she heard the song.

And that song changed for us in a new way because, when we initially recorded it, it was undoubtedly about something that hit you hard in life and turning to your backbone and stabilizing forces. And for most people, that would be their mother. Most definitely, it’s for me.

But when the world shifted and we were mixing and finalizing the song, he explained to Smooth Country’s Rory O’Connor, “it really became about a much bigger thing.”

“Who are the people in your life that you can rely on in situations like this?” when everything seems to be spinning out of control and the world is uncontrollable. Who are the people you can trust?

More importantly, I think it caused you to think about who those individuals are and whether you could be there for them if they needed you.

In 2020, Tim acknowledged that it would be more challenging to release an album, but he also said, “Fortunately, we’d gotten most of it done. Just before the lockdown started, we finished recording the final verses of two or three songs that we had just finished recording.