TIM MCGRAW - MCGRAW KEEN TO RECORD AWARD SHOW COUNTRY ANTHEM

Country star TIM MCGRAW is desperately trying to find time to record the anthem he performed at the Academy of Country Music last week (ends18May07) because the track has already become a radio phenomenon. The singer's emotional tribute to the families of Iraqi war victims, If You're Reading This, has become an instant hit, but, because MCGraw hasn't actually recorded the tune, stations are playing the audio from the telecast of the Las Vegas awards ceremony. The singer's manager, Scott Siman, says, "I want to let everyone know we are working with Tim and his label to address the fact we don't have a studio recorded version of this song." MCGraw wrote the heart-tugging ballad to the families of fallen soldiers with the Warren Brothers. When he performed it at the Academy of Country Music Awards show, there wasn't a dry eye in the house when the darkened stage was lit up at the close of his song to reveal a group of grieving U.S. soldiers' families. MCGraw says, "The response of the people, to see in their words how this song has touched them, is so inspiring."