Tim McGraw talks TIME 100 gala, Sandy Hook benefit

Tim McGraw has a lot to celebrate this year -- he's about to launch a major tour and was just named one of Time magazine's most influential people in the world.

The 47-year-old country star not only attended the Time 100 event Tuesday in New York to celebrate the honor, but he also took the stage to perform a medley of songs, including "Shotgun Rider" and "Live Like We Were Dying." In the magazine's tribute to McGraw, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham wrote that the singer "moves between genres with the same down-to-earth grace that's always on display at the Nashville high school football games he never misses."

Other honorees in the arts this year included Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Chris Pratt and Julianne Moore.

"I feel very fortunate," McGraw told CBS News about the TIME recognition. "It was a great room of people -- to be able to be there with my daughters and my wife and to hear some of the speeches and to meet some of the people that we got to meet. And to be in a room with so much energy and so much intelligence -- and people who are doing so many great things in art and humanities and sciences and making policy all over the world -- and leading countries forward, and carrying the banner of great causes. It was a pretty great evening and great company to be involved with."

McGraw attended the gala with his wife, singer Faith Hill, and their three daughters -- all of whom, he says, are growing up really fast.

"My oldest daughter graduates in May," said McGraw. "She goes off to college in the fall. And then next year, my middle daughter graduates. So we're back-to-back graduations going on for the next couple of years."

Prior to the Time 100 gala, McGraw was making headlines for another reason: announcing a summer concert in Connecticut to benefit a Sandy Hook group. The show, set to take place at the XFINITY Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 17, will raise funds for Sandy Hook Promise. Families of the children killed in December 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, organized the nonprofit organization to help prevent gun violence and focus on mental health issues.

But some critics have voiced their concerns about McGraw's participation, calling his upcoming gig a gun control fundraiser.

McGraw defended his choice to put on the benefit in a statement to The Washington Post last week, and in Thursday's interview with CBS News, he spoke about why the cause is important to him.

"Look, I think when you're an artist you lead with you heart and you do things with your heart. You do things with a purpose," he said. "And having a personal connection with one of the families from Sandy Hook, I thought 'We're going to be in the area and it was an opportunity to do some good things for a community that is recovering from a terrible terrible situation. And any time you're able to step up and help, that's what I want to do."

McGraw has consistently given back through charity projects over the years -- from assisting with Hurricane Katrina to raising funds for little league programs.

"I just want to do what I can to help. I'm not one to put politics on top of the things that I can do for charities and to help," he said.

Still, McGraw -- a Democrat -- says he's "certainly interested" in the upcoming presidential election.

"I'm certainly going to check it out and support the people I think agree with most -- you can't agree with everybody on everything, but you gotta find things that you mostly agree with and that's what I'm going to try to do with the presidential race."

Meanwhile, he's throwing his support behind another cause: helping to get the word out about type 2 diabetes.

"I have one aunt who died from complications from diabetes and another aunt living with diabetes and several family members and some really close friends who live with diabetes...They're constantly checking their blood sugar and trying to get their levels to the proper place," he said.

So, he has teamed up with a program from Merck and the American Diabetes Association, dubbed America's Diabetes Challenge, to urge people with type 2 diabetes to work with their doctors to set and reach their A1C goal.

"I'm involved American Diabetes Association because 30 million Americans are living with diabetes and that's a lot of people -- and I'm sure that all of us within our circle of family and friends know someone who is living with diabetes," he said. "And for me, that was reason to get involved because there's so many people out there. And it can be manageable."

Go here for more information on taking the challenge. And check back next week for part 2 of our interview with McGraw about his new album, tour and role in the upcoming film, "Tomorrowland."