Faith Hill is back in the spotlight for a milestone tied to one of the biggest touring runs in country music. On April 21, 2006, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill launched their Soul2Soul II tour, a 118-stop trek that would run until September 2007 and reset expectations for what a country tour could achieve.
Soul2Soul II turned into a record-setting run
The tour opened 20 years ago with strong momentum, after the couple first built the Soul2Soul brand with a 65-stop tour in 2000. That earlier run drew nearly one million fans, and the second chapter scaled up fast once tickets went on sale in January 2006.
Faith Hill and McGraw did not use opening acts on the first leg of Soul2Soul II. The format was direct and stripped down: Hill performed first, McGraw followed, and the night ended with duets that included “It’s Your Love” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way. ”
The 2006 portion of the tour delivered the biggest numbers. The run included 74 shows, sold more than a million tickets, and grossed roughly $89 million. That made it the highest-grossing country music concert tour of its time and placed it among the top tours in North America and worldwide for that year.
Faith Hill, Taylor Swift, and the next wave of country stardom
The 2007 extension added another layer to the story. Rebranded Soul2Soul 2007, the new dates filled in cities the pair had missed on the first stretch and pushed the total show count to 118. Openers on select dates included Lori McKenna, Lance Miller, Halfway to Hazard, and Taylor Swift.
Faith Hill and McGraw later looked back on Swift’s early appearances with clear admiration. In a 2023 interview, McGraw said he and Faith Hill spent time talking with Swift before and after shows and quickly sensed she was headed for major stardom. He said, “Faith and I both said, ‘This girl, she’s going to be the biggest star in the world. ’”
That prediction aged well. The same context shows Swift went on to break the couple’s country touring record in 2014 with her Red Tour, which became the highest-grossing country music concert in history.
Faith Hill’s place in the larger country-pop shift
Faith Hill’s name also carries weight beyond the tour itself. The broader story around her career points to a larger country-pop moment, with her 1998 album Faith cited as a major commercial success that helped define the era. That backdrop helps explain why Soul2Soul II felt so big when it opened: Faith Hill was already part of the commercial core of country music’s crossover rise.
McGraw’s recollection of Swift, Hill’s role in the tour setup, and the record-setting gross all underline the same point: Faith Hill was central to a run that became part of country music history. The tour’s scale, its ticket sales, and its later influence made it a benchmark that fans and artists still measure against.
What comes next for the legacy of Faith Hill’s tour era
For now, the milestone is a reminder of how quickly Soul2Soul II became bigger than a standard co-headlining tour. The 20-year mark puts Faith Hill back at the center of a story about touring power, crossover reach, and the early rise of a future global star. As the anniversary lands, Faith Hill’s part in that chapter remains tied to one of the defining live runs of the 2000s.
