Keith Urban

• Born: 26 October 1967

Singer-songwriter and guitarist

Place of birth: Whangarei, New Zealand

Education: Caboolture State High School (attended until 1982)

Significance: A native of New Zealand, Keith Urban is an award-winning Australian American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. He is widely credited with fusing sounds from other genres into his country music songs.

Background

Keith Lionel Urban was born in Whangarei, New Zealand, in 1967 but spent most of his childhood in Queensland, Australia. His parents, Bob and Marienne, were fans of American country music and gave him his first guitar at the age of six. As a child he competed in local talent shows. Urban attended Caboolture State High School in Caboolture, Queensland, until 1982. Then, at the age of fifteen, he quit after earning his junior certificate to pursue a full-time career as a musician. By 1990, he had won a record contract through the televised competition Star Maker. With several hits on the Australian charts, Urban began planning for the next step in his career.

In 1992, Urban moved to Nashville, Tennessee. He formed a country music trio known as the Ranch in 1995, and after two years, they produced a self-titled studio album. Around that time, Urban left the band to pursue a solo career. His fledgling career was nearly derailed by substance abuse, but Urban recovered and began performing with some of the biggest names in country music, including the Dixie Chicks and Garth Brooks. In 2001, Urban released his first solo, self-titled studio album, which contained "But for the Grace of God", which topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. As he continued to open for established stars like Dwight Yoakam and Faith Hill, he also began headlining his own shows to increasing popularity.

Country Music Giant

By the early 2000s, Keith Urban had quickly risen to country music fame. In 2001, Urban received the Horizon Award from the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. In 2002, he released his second album, Golden Road, which would go triple platinum within three years and spawn three Billboard Country Airplay chart-topping singles: "Somebody Like You", "You'll Think of Me" and "Who Wouldn't Want to Be Me?". In 2004, he performed even better, as his third studio album, Be Here, sold over four million copies within two years. In the Ranch was also reissued that year.

With the success of Be Here, Urban started on the largest headlining concert tour of his career to date. With his growing success came more awards, including the CMA's 2005 entertainer of the year and male vocalist of the year. Meanwhile, Urban's record label released an anthology of Urban's hits, Days Go By, which includes the single of the same title.

In 2006, Urban attracted widespread attention, both positive and negative. He married, had completed another album, Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing, and was preparing to tour again to promote it. However, in late October 2006, Urban abruptly but voluntarily checked into the Betty Ford Center for alcohol rehabilitation.

Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing was not as acclaimed as Urban's previous albums. This was in part because its release came about a month into Urban's three-month rehabilitation, during which he made no public appearances. Nevertheless, Urban's fame and popularity carried the album, which went platinum by mid-December and later launched a successful 2007 North American tour featuring Urban and country music superstar Carrie Underwood. Also in 2007, Urban promoted another greatest-hits album.

Urban went back into the studio and, in 2009, released Defying Gravity. That album earned him a new degree of popularity, as it appealed to pop and country music fans alike. By 2010, Urban had earned four Grammy Awards for best male country performance.

Over the next several years, Urban released the critically successful albums Get Closer (2010) and The Story So Far (2012), which included a rerecorded version of his 2002 hit "You Look Good in My Shirt". In 2012, Urban was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry by fellow country star Vince Gill. That same year he served as a judge for The Voice Australia and was also named a judge on the hit television show American Idol, a position he held until the original iteration of the show ended in 2016. In 2013, Urban released Fuse, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Three years later, he came out with the acclaimed Ripcord, a sampler of various musical influences, including electronic and rap. Ripcord topped the ARIA Albums chart. Urban and Underwood performed together once again on the 2016 Ripcord World Tour, and the Ripcord single "The Fighter," which features Underwood, was a hit, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Urban's next two albums additionally performed well on the charts and proved popular with fans and many critics. His 2018 project Graffiti U went to the number-one position of the Billboard Top Country Albums chart as did his 2020 release, The Speed of Now Part 1; further illustrating his overall musical appeal, Graffiti U also claimed the number-two spot while The Speed of Now Part 1 landed at the seventh spot on the general Billboard 200 albums chart. Continuing to collaborate with a wide range of artists, while Graffiti U includes a track recorded with Julia Michaels, The Speed of Now Part 1 features the song "One Too Many," which he recorded with Pink. Though the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic declaration in 2020 had caused the cancellation or postponement of live concerts and tours, in addition to hosting 2020's Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards ceremony, he returned as cohost alongside Mickey Guyton for the 2021 show.

Urban released several songs in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, he released "Love Songs Ain't For Us" with Amy Shark and "Wild Hearts." The following year he released "Nightfalls," "Brown Eyes Baby," and "Street Called Main." Also in 2022, Urban embarked on the Speed of Now World Tour. In 2024, he released the singles "Straight Line" and "Mess Up as Me."

Impact

Keith Urban has expanded the bounds of American country music by borrowing sounds from pop and other genres. The resulting fusions have won him critical acclaim and status as a country music superstar in Australia, the United States, and internationally. He has earned a number of Country Music Association, ACM, People's Choice, and Grammy Awards, among others, during his long career. His music has also consistently placed high on the ARIA country charts.

Personal Life

Keith Urban resides in Nashville, Tennessee. He married Australian movie star Nicole Kidman in June 2006. They have two daughters together as well as two children from Kidman's previous marriage. In multiple interviews after his 2006–7 rehabilitation, Urban credited Kidman for standing by him and helping him recover.

Bibliography

Aniftos, Rania. "Keith Urban Talks Mentoring on ‘The Voice’ & Watching Country Music’s ‘Extraordinary’ Growth." Billboard, 8 Apr. 2024, www.billboard.com/culture/tv-film/keith-urban-interview-the-voice-mentor-country-music-1235651723/. Accessed 18 June 2024.

Hedegaard, Erik. "Keith Urban's Hard Road." Rolling Stone, 16 June 2016, www.rollingstone.com/music/features/keith-urbans-hard-road-20160616. Accessed 18 June 2024.

"Keith Urban." Billboard, 2012, www.billboard.com/artist/305660/keith-urban. Accessed 18 June 2024.

"Keith Urban." Grand Ole Opry, 2021, www.opry.com/artists/keith-urban. Accessed 18 June 2024.

Leimkuehler, Matthew. "Keith Urban Just Hosted the ACM Awards. Now He's Releasing a Record Shaped by 'Universality.'" Tennessean, 17 Sept. 2020, www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2020/09/17/keith-urban-finds-the-speed-now-new-album-interview/5792777002/. Accessed 18 June 2024.

Urban, Keith. "Keith Urban: 'I Was Going to Lose It All.'" Interview by Elizabeth Leonard. People, 12 Nov. 2007, people.com/archive/cover-story-keith-urban-i-was-going-to-lose-it-all-vol-68-no-20. Accessed 18 June 2024.