Tim McGraw just gave several healthcare workers the surprise of a lifetime, when he unexpectedly joined a video chat they were in, to perform his current single, “I Called Mama,.” His appearance was part of Spotify’s new Drop In series, pairing artists virtually with some of their biggest fans. For the country music superstar, he joined a video call with nurses and doctors from Virtual Health in New Jersey.

“I just wanted to say thank you and what great work you guys are doing,” Tim said (via the Today Show). “Most importantly, for me, it’s an inspiration to my daughters. As they go out into the world, they can see what you guys do. And that’s one of the bright lights, I think, through all of this, being able to see how much people care, how hard people work, how selfless people can be — especially you guys, our front-line workers who put their lives on the line and take care of people. And you give our kids something to emulate as they go forward in life.”

The father of three wanted to do the brief visit to remind the workers that the work they are doing isn’t going unnoticed.

“I know you guys have extra care for your family, going home to your families and stuff,” Tim shared. “I know that that weighs on you when you go home from work. I guess that’s a constant thought with you guys, with the work that you do.”

“I see the hours that you work, we see it every day and hear about it every day,” he added. “And I hope that you guys feel lifted up.”

Tim will release his upcoming album, Here on Earth, on August 21. The Louisiana native, who will celebrate the release with a livestream event, originally wanted to make the project a double record, but was afraid people would lose interest with so many songs.

“I wanted to do even more,” Tim told CMT. “We recorded over 25, but we mixed out 25 songs. I loved every one of them. The hardest part — at first I wanted to narrow the album down to 12. And then as I went through the process, I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t get it narrowed down. There were so many songs.

“The songs that didn’t get on the album are still songs that I hope will show up some other time,” he added. “I wanted to do a big double album with 20, 25 sides. It’s just tough to hold people’s attention that long. I hope I can hold them long enough to listen to the 18 that we do have.”

Listen to the entire Drop In episode with Tim here.