Faith Hill’s beautiful face has adorned covers of CDs and magazines before, but for the first time ever she’s posing in a bikini.

What gave her the bravery? Pilates.

“I could bend in ways I haven’t been able to since I was a teenager,” the Nashville-based star tells Shape magazine for its December issue (on sale Nov. 10). “My husband %26#91;Tim McGraw%26#93; loves it!”

Her new routine is done with an instructor, and comes after years of waffling when it comes to working out.

Lifestyle Change

“But in my 20s and 30s, I’d go through phases with exercise, working out for four weeks before a big tour or video shoot and not doing much afterward. Then I had three kids %26#91;with McGraw, daughters Gracie, 11; Maggie, 10; and Audrey, 6%26#93; and turned 40, so I decided to make a lifestyle change.”

There was another consideration: knee surgery in January forced her to cease exercising for six months. “I had never gone that long without doing something,” she says. “I was not happy.”

In July she and McGraw began a daily routine that included four miles on the elliptical, light weight lifting, crunches and push-ups.

“I found I slept better, had more energy and was stronger,” says Hill, who then increased her regime to include Pilates classes three times a week.

“It was so hard, but ultimately so worth it. My core is much stronger, and my arms are more toned. In fact, wearing a bikini on a magazine cover is my 41st birthday present to myself.”

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Faith Hill’s upcoming Christmas album, Joy to the World, was three years in the making, and PEOPLE.com has your exclusive first listen of the album’s debut single, “A Baby Changes Everything.”

Listen to the song here:

Joy - Hill’s first Christmas album - offers lush interpretations of classics such as “Little Drummer Boy” and “O Come All Ye Faithful” (featuring the likes of the Nashville Symphony). “It’s very spiritual, kind of a throwback to the 1950s-’60s Christmas music,” she said.

The album will be released Sept. 30, but fans can pre-order a copy through Hill’s Web site.

What goes better with football than Faith Hill?

The country superstar has been tapped again to perform “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night,” the opening theme for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, beginning with the first regular season game on Sept. 7.

“What a thrill it was to be invited back this year,” the country singer said in a statement. “I’m a huge football fan and I love being part of the Sunday Night Football family.”

In addition to her theme-song duties, Hill will take part in a special - and humorous - ad campaign for the NFL. In the first spot, NFL players prepare snacks for Hill and her girlfriends.

“The promo piece is one of the funniest things I have ever seen,” the singer said. “Fans will be in for a real treat getting a glimpse of these guys in the kitchen. We had a blast”

Hill is the first performer to be asked back to sing the NFL theme since Hank Williams Jr.

Country music star Tim McGraw is releasing his first children’s book this fall titled My Little Girl.

The Grammy-award winner, who has three daughters with wife Faith Hill, penned the book with singer-songwriter Tom Douglas, according to the book’s publisher Thomas Nelson. The duo also wrote McGraw’s hit song of the same title.

The book is about a dad and his daughter who, together with their dog, spend “an ordinary turned extraordinary day together,” says the publisher. It will hit bookshelves in October, with a foreward by Faith Hill.
- Ulrica Wihlborg

All that’s missing is the curled upper lip. Faith Hill does her best Elvis - the young Elvis, that is - in this video tribute to the King, a cover of his hit “That’s Alright Mama.” The clip is making its official premiere Wednesday on the country superstar’s Web site, but PEOPLE got an early clip of the full performance. Hill sang it for the ABC Elvis special “Viva Las Vegas” - the special also featured Hill singing “Peace in the Valley” and performances from Paul McCartney and Aerosmith, among others.

• Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, shopping with their daughters at the Lisa Kline stores in Los Angeles. While Hill and her daughters shopped at the women’s boutique - picking out designer duds and, yep, even three Colette Malouf headbands (retail price: $50 each) - McGraw hit up the men’s store to scout out denim. Happy with his jeans - including a pair of William Rast pants - the country superstar reteamed with his family. And the whole group shopped together at the kids’ store, picking out sandals for their girls.

• Josh Brolin and wife Diane Lane, bounding down the stairs - an hour late for their reservation - at Madeo in Los Angeles. The couple apologized to the ma%26#238;tre d’, then cooled their jets for 20 minutes, holding hands and drinking red wine at the bar before being led to their requested table in the back.

• Charlize Theron, toying with her iPhone on a flight out of Salt Lake City with beau Stuart Townsend after hanging out at the Sundance Film Festival. Sitting in the last row of first class, and headed to Los Angeles, the pair sweetly chatted as Townsend used his laptop.

• A svelte and sexy Janet Jackson, holding court in a VIP booth with Jermaine Dupri at Prive in Las Vegas. But Dupri didn’t last long next to his sweetie. Soon, he headed to another booth - the deejay booth, where he played a two-hour set which included a new song by his girlfriend.

• By ALEXIS CHIU, JENNIFER GARCIA, MARK GRAY, SHARI GROSSMAN, MAUREEN HARRINGTON and AMY ELISA KEITH

Friday’s Caught in the Act >

Faith Hill recently had surgery to repair an old knee injury but isn’t letting up on her busy schedule.

“Who has time to slow down?” the country star said in a statement. “Doctors had told me to stay off my feet for a bit and now I’m following their rehab program. I intend to be back better and stronger.”

Hill, 40, underwent an operation called chondroplasty to realign her kneecap, which she first injured playing softball in high school.

Still, the singer is pushing right ahead with her plans to participate in the MusiCares tribute to Aretha Franklin next month and to continue recording a Christmas album, due for release later this year.
- By Gerri Miller