It’s hard to imagine country music without Tim McGraw, but that’s almost what happened. The 55-year-old reveals he almost became a lawyer instead, thanks to a movie he saw when he was still a kid.

“I wanted to be a lawyer, as long as I could remember,” McGraw tells his record label. “In fact, I think I was 11, 12, 13 years old and I saw And Justice for All with Al Pacino. And from that point on, I always wanted to be a defense attorney. I went to college to be a lawyer, and then I picked up a guitar and started playing music, so that all went out the window.”

McGraw, who once said he would consider being a politician at some point, still has a lot of interest in the legal system.

“If there was something I’d wanna learn more about, it’d be the law and government,” says the singer. “I’m sort of a political junkie, so I would like to learn more about that, and probably history. I’m a big history fan as well.“

McGraw for now is still fully committed to his music career. After earning his 45th No. 1 hit, with “7500 OBO,” the father of three is back in the studio, working on a new album.

“I’m in the middle of it,” McGraw revealed on  Country Countdown USA. “I’ve probably mixed eight so far, and will record a few more soon. I’m always looking to beat what I did last time. I’m sure we’ll have something off the new album here before too long. I don’t know when the album will drop.”

McGraw’s first No. 1 hit, “Don’t Take the Girl,” was released in 1994. Even he finds it hard to believe that he is still having success on the charts, almost 30 years later.

“[45] is a pretty special number in our family because, as a lot of people know, my dad was a professional baseball player, and his number was 45,” McGraw said. “And he passed on at age 59 quite a few years back, and so I think that song will be special because of that number.”

Keep track of music updates and future shows at TimMcGraw.com.