Tim McGraw Reveals Secret Faith Hill-Chris Martin Songwriting Sessions

By John Mitchell Posted Jan 7th 2011 02:07PM

Chris Martin is known for his unique collaborations with hip-hop artists like Jay-Z and Kanye West, but it now seems that the rocker has set his sights on a new genre -- country. While his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, was busy filming 'Country Strong' in Nashville with Tim McGraw, McGraw's better half, Faith Hill, took full advantage of having the Coldplay frontman in her neck of the woods.

"My wife is a huge Coldplay fan, and they spent a lot of time writin' songs," McGraw told Chelsea Handler last night during a sit-down on her E! chatfest.

"I don't want to start any rumors or anything, but I ain't heard any songs yet," McGraw joked with Handler. "But he's English, so I'm not too worried."

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Whether the songs Hill wrote with Martin will ever see the light of day remains to be seen. But cross-genre collaboration is not uncommon for Martin. In 2006, the singer appeared on Jay-Z's comeback album, 'Kingdom Come,' and sang the chorus for Kanye West's 2007 hit 'Homecoming.' He has also collaborated with Nelly Furtado and Swizz Beatz. Martin and Jay-Z are close friends in real life -- Martin and Paltrow even attended Jay's wedding to Beyonce. The two musicians most recently performed together at Hova's massive concert with Eminem at Yankee Stadium in September.

If Martin's songs with Hill do make it to radio, they'll mark the arena rocker's first step into the country pond.

Martin and Paltrow are notoriously tight-lipped about their private life, but it seems they had a blast on the set of 'Country Strong.' In addition to McGraw's jokes about Hill's tight connection with Martin, Paltrow has credited the 'Breathe' singer with her much-praised performance at last year's CMA Awards. "I asked Faith [Hill] a lot of questions," Paltrow told 'Access Hollywood,' "and Beyonce, actually, too."

Paltrow and Hill have remained close friends. "She's basically the greatest person on earth -- a most generous, patient, kind and amazing mother -- and she's Faith Hill," Paltrow told the California Chronicle. "It was great. We all got along really well."

The on-set camaraderie even extended to McGraw and Paltrow's young co-stars. 'Tron: Legacy' breakout Garrett Hedlund, who plays an up-and-coming singer in 'Country Strong' (and will star as Dean Moriarty in director Walter Salles' highly anticipated adaptation of Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road'), recently told Ellen DeGeneres that McGraw invited him to Nashville to stay in a cabin on his property for more than a month before 'Country Strong' began filming, so he could get a feel for the level of talent in Music City. "If anybody has never been to Nashville, it's a wonderful city," Hedlund said. "Doing this film, you just gotta live and breathe country music."

Paltrow clearly felt the same way, and it rubbed off on her rock star husband.

Tags: chris martin, faith hill, tim mcgraw