Keith Urban

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Keith Urban

Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and record producer. In 1991, he released a self-titled debut album and charted four singles in Australia before moving to the United States the following year. He found work as a session guitarist before starting a band known as The Ranch, which recorded one studio album on Capitol Nashville and charted two singles on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Still signed to Capitol, Urban made his solo American debut in 1999 with a second eponymous album. Certified platinum in the US by the RIAA, it produced his first number one on the Hot Country Songs chart with "But for the Grace of God". "Somebody Like You", the first single from his second Capitol album Golden Road (2002), was named by Billboard as the biggest country hit of the 2000s decade. The album's fourth single, "You'll Think of Me", featuring his nephew and Australian country artist Rory Gilliatte, earned him his first Grammy Award. 2004's "Be Here", his third American album, produced three more number one singles and became his highestselling album, having earned a 4× Platinum certification. "Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing" was released in 2006, containing "Once in a Lifetime" as well as his second Grammy Award song "Stupid Boy". A greatest hits package entitled "Greatest Hits: 18 Kids" followed in late 2007. "Defying Gravity" and "Get Closer" were released on 31 March 2009 and 16 November 2010, respectively. In September 2013, he released a brand new album titled "Fuse", which produced four more number ones on the Country Airplay chart, two of which are duets - one with Miranda Lambert and the other with Eric Church. A new single, entitled "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16", was released in June 2015 as the lead-off single to his eighth American studio album, "Ripcord". The album later produced the Country Airplay chart number one hits "Break on Me", "Wasted Time", and "Blue Ain't Your Color", with the latter also becoming Urban's longest-reigning number one on the Hot Country Songs chart, spending twelve weeks at number one. His tenth album, "Graffiti U", was released in 2018 and includes the Top 20 hit "Female".

Urban has released a total of nine studio albums (one of which was released only in Australia), as well as one album with The Ranch. He has charted 37 singles on the US Hot Country Songs chart, 18 of which went to number one, counting a duet with Brad Paisley and the 2008 single "You Look Good in My Shirt", which he previously recorded on Golden Road. Those also include his third Grammy Award-winning single "Sweet Thing" from his album "Defying Gravity".

Urban is also known for his roles as a coach on the Australian version of the singing competition The Voice and as a judge on American Idol. Since 2006, he has been married to actress Nicole Kidman. In October 2013, Urban introduced his own signature line of guitars and accessories.

Press Reports

Nash Country Daily | by Jim Casey | @TheJimCasey | May 15, 2020

Keith Urban Surprises Vanderbilt Healthcare Workers With Private Concert

by Jim Casey | @TheJimCasey | May 17, 2018

Even With Haggard Family’s Blessing,

Keith Urban Was Still Nervous to Release Merle-Inspired Tune, “Coming Home”

Keith Urban tiptoed through hallowed ground when he decided to record and release, “Coming Home,” a tune that features a riff from one of country music’s most sacred songs, Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried.”

Even though Keith reached out to Merle’s widow, Theresa Haggard, and son, Ben, to secure their blessings, he was still nervous about releasing the tune.

“I was very much [nervous] . . . I didn’t want to just shove [the riff] into a song,” says Keith to Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown. “A lot of times when you hear a sample [from another song], it’s just kind of shoved into the middle of a song as it is, and I wanted something a little bit more artistic with it. J.R. Rotem, who co-wrote ‘Coming Home’ and co-produced it, he took the sample from the original recording of ‘Mama Tried,’ and then manipulated it a bit and wrote these chords around it. When he had done that and I sat in the studio and listened to the music, I just . . . I wrote that chorus out, almost stream of conscious. But, it was really that lick from Merle that made me miss home, think about home, growing up in Australia - all of it just came flooding back and it was that riff that triggered it, so it was a really important part of the song for me.”

“Coming Home,” which was co-penned by Keith, J.R. Rotem, Julia Michaels, Nicolle Galyon and Merle Haggard, is currently No. 14 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart after 8 weeks. Julia Michaels also provides vocals.

by Jim Casey | @TheJimCasey | June 30, 2017

The Nostalgia of July 4th Reminds Keith Urban About His First Trip to the U.S. in July 1989

New Zealand-born Keith Urban has been one of the hardest working men in Music City since moving to Nashville in 1992. Over the past 25 years, the guitar virtuoso has won just about every major award the industry has to offer, including multiple Grammy Awards, CMA Awards and ACM Awards. Just this past month, Keith took home four trophies at the CMT Music Awards.

While he’s been in Nashville for 25 years, his first trip to the U.S. was in July 1989, when the then-22-year-old was shopping around his debut demo. America’s upcoming birthday on July 4 reminded Keith about the nostalgia of his first trip to the States 28 years ago.

«1989 was the first year I came to the States, and it had always been my goal, but I had no plan on how to get here,” says Keith. “It was just a case of keep playing, keep getting better at what you do, and then hopefully, somehow, some way I’ll end up over here.

The guy who was managing me at the time, we just planned a trip over here - it was actually for the New Music Seminar in New York. And we came over for that, and then we did a trip down to Nashville, and I was shopping my little demo around. I think I humored everybody more than anything else [laughs] with my tragic, ill-fitting demo for the time. So, I left there, but I was just so committed to coming back as quick as I could.»

As you know, Keith came back . . . and has been a staple of the country music scene over the last two decades.

by Jim Casey | @TheJimCasey | June 8, 2017

After Going a Combined 0/14 at the Past Year’s ACM, Grammy & CMA Awards,

Keith Urban Wins the Night With 4 CMT Music Awards

“This award is for everyone watching that voted for this, everyone in the room tonight,” said Keith after winning the night’s top honor, Video of the Year for “Blue Ain’t Your Color.” “This award is for all you guys, everybody outside that couldn’t get in, everybody that comes to see us play in concert. I wish God’s blessing for all of you and your families. I love making music, I love making videos, I love making records, I love writing songs, I love touring, I love what I get to do, maybe more that ever. You guys allow me to do that and when you support this music and connect with it the way you do, cause that’s all I’m trying to do, I’m just trying to make a connection, so God bless every one of you.”

Watch Keith’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” video.

Over the past eight months, Keith Urban has been nominated for seven ACM Awards, two Grammys and five CMA Awards.

How many did he win? Zero, zip, zilch, nada. When it came time to vote, the industry decided that Keith’s Ripcord album, multiple singles like “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” and entertainment prowess weren’t numero uno. Time and time again, Keith heard someone else’s name called. Eric Church, Jason Aldean, Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, Garth Brooks . . . and on and on it went until Keith was left with an 0/14 stat line.

However, when the vote was put in the hands—or click finger—of the fans via the CMT Music Awards, Keith reigned supreme. The superstar came home with four trophies last night (June 7), including Video of the Year, Male Video of the Year, Collaborative Video of the Year and Social Superstar.

by Jim Casey | @TheJimCasey | March 23, 2017

Watch Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban’s Free-for-All Jam Session

Keith Urban laid it down, and Harry Connick Jr. picked it up.

Yesterday (March 22), Keith stopped by Harry Connick Jr.’s daytime talk show, Harry, to chat with the host about a variety of topics, play a game of Celebrity Swipes and treat viewers to a free-for-all jam session in which Keith riffed on his axe while Harry tickled the ivory.

“One of the best parts of being on this show is that I get to play music with my favorite band in the world, and every once in a while we get a special guest, and today it’s my brother Keith Urban,” said Harry. “We’re gonna show you what a jam session is like. We didn’t really work on this . . . ”

“I already forgot the groove,” interjected Keith. - “I did too,” said Harry.

“’Cause we were just jammin’, and I’m like, ‘I have no clue what we’re doing’,” said Keith.

“So we don’t know what we’re about to do. Keith, kick it off and let’s see where it goes,” said Harry.

by Jim Casey | @TheJimCasey | February 16, 2017

Keith Urban Reacts to His 7 ACM Awards Nominations: “Today Is Humbling”

Nominations for the 2017 ACM Awards were announced this morning (Feb. 16), and no one had more to celebrate than Keith Urban, who was nominated for seven awards.

Keith scored seven nominations in five categories, including his seventh for Entertainer of the Year and 10th nod for Male Vocalist of the Year. Keith is nominated twice, as both artist and producer, in the Album of the Year category for Ripcord. He received an additional two nominations, for both artist and producer, in the Single Record of the Year category for “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” which is also nominated in the Song of the Year.

I’ve been a musician since I was 6 years old,” says Keith. “I just love writing songs, making records and touring. So for the ACMS’s to recognize Ripcord in such a big way today is humbling. I share these nominations with everyone in my life who made it possible—and a big shout-out to all of our fans, who came out to see us on the Ripcord Tour. Can’t wait to play for you all again soon.”

by Lisa Konicki | @LisaKon127 | February 17, 2017

Keith Urban Takes You Behind-theScenes of “The Fighter” With Carrie Underwood

Keith Urban’s new single, “The Fighter,” featuring Carrie Underwood, made its television debut on Sunday night (Feb. 12) at the 2017 Grammy Awards to rave reviews. Following the performance, the song’s brand-new video was released online for a 24-hour preview, and today (Feb. 16) Keith is taking you behind-the-scenes for a look at the making of “The Fighter.”

“I wrote this song with busbee [“My Church,” “H.O.L.Y.”] and I loved the idea of the question and answer simplicity of the song,” Keith says in the video. “We were actually in London at the time and we were working on another song and out of the blue that morning, on the way to that writing session, I had an idea for a duet that really

could be taken from a conversation I’ve actually had before in this back-and-forth, boy-girl scenario. The very first thing we both said was ‘Who’s the girl? Who sings the song?’ We both heard Carrie’s voice immediately.”

And so it happened. After working through their schedules Carrie jumped on board and “The Fighter” came to life. While the dancing is left up to a professionals, Carrie and Keith have no problem showing off a few moves of their own throughout the video.

Check out the behind-the-scenes video for “The Fighter” with Keith and Carrie.

by Jim Casey | @The JimCasey | July 27, 2016

Go Behind the Scenes on Keith Urban's «Blue Ain't Your Color» From New «Ripcord» Album

Over the course of the 13 songs on his recent Billboard No. 1 album, Ripcord, Keith Urban blurs the lines between country, dance, hip hop, electronica and more.

«There's new music being made all the time that's fascinating to me», Keith said to NCD in May when the album dropped. «It's sort of like being a chef I guess, you're always looking for ingredients that could to together bur haven't been put together yet».

One of the more traditional songs on the new album is the waltzy «Blue Ain't Your Color», a Don Williams-inspired tune written by Steven Lee Olson, Hillary Lindsey and Clint Lagerberg.

by Lisa Konicki - July 5, 2016

Keith Urban Makes One Fans Dream Come True

Maybe Keith Urban was trolling for contestants for Australia's version of The Voice?

Back from Down Under, where he was taping early episodes for that show Keith did something rarely done during the weekly multi-artist Grand Ole Opry Shows in Nashville - he plucked some folks from the crowd to sing with him.

«How many people would love to sing at the Opry?» he asked in the middle of performing «Kiss a Girl».

«Actually come up and sing on this stage at the Opry?» he continued to shrieks from the audience.

Keith eventually chose a young lady from Kentucky, a young man from Alabama and a pint-sized cutie form Arkansas.

Even before they startet singing, Keith correctly predicted the little girl from Arkansas would be a crowd fave.

Background information From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Early life

Keith Lionel Urban was born on 26 October 1967, in Whangarei, New Zealand. He is the youngest son of Marienne and Robert "Bob" Urban. At the age of 13, he attended Sir Edmund Hillary College in Otara, South Auckland, New Zealand and by the age of 17, he lived with his parents in Caboolture, Queensland, Australia. His father, who owned a convenience store, put an advertisement for a guitar teacher in his shop window. Urban took lessons from his teacher, Sue McCarthy (now Crealey and still a family friend) and began entering local competitions, in addition to acting in a local theater company. Urban has stated that his guitar playing was influenced by two rock players, Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) and Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac).

In 1983, Urban was a contestant on the Australian TV talent show New Faces. A few years later, he began making the inroads into the Australian country music scene, with regular appearances on the Reg Lindsay Country Homestead TV Program, Mike McClellan's Music Program, and various other TV programs performing duets with local Brisbane girl Jenny Wilson. They won a golden guitar award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Urban also performed regularly on stage at the Northern Suburbs Country Music Club in Bald Hills, where he was a member. He was in a band called 'Kids Country', that performed during school holidays at various venues and made appearances on the Reg Lindsey show and Conway Country. He also teamed up with Angie Marquis, Tony Black, Peter Black and Tina Rouaen in a teen rock band that performed during the summer holidays at the local water slide and theme park.

Musical career

1990-1999: Early years

In 1990, Urban signed with EMI in Australia and released his self-titled debut album. He toured as a backup act to Slim Dusty between 1993 and 1994. In the mid-1990s, both people recorded a re-worked duet of Dusty's classic "Lights on the Hill". Urban appeared for the first time at the Grand Ole Opry backing Dusty. He also sang backing vocals on INXS's live album "Live Baby Live" (1992). Urban moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1992. The next year, he appeared in the music video for Alan Jackson's rendition of "Mercury Blues". He and Vernon Rust co-wrote "Jesus Gets Jealous of Santa Claus" on Toby Keith's 1995 album "Christmas to Christmas", 4 Runner's 1996 single "That Was Him (This Is Now)", and "Tangled Up in Love" on the Raybon Brothers' 1997 self-titled album. In 1997, he formed a band known as The Ranch, which included drummer Peter Clarke and bassist Jerry Flowers. The Ranch released one self-titled album for Capitol Records Nashville and charted two singles on the Hot Country Songs charts that year: "Walkin' the Country" and "Just Some Love". Throughout the late 1990s, Urban also played guitar on several other artists' albums, such as Paul Jefferson, Tim Wilson, and Charlie Daniels.

1999-2001: «Keith Urban»

Urban released his self-titled American debut album in 1999 under the production of session pianist Matt Rollings. It was led by the number 18 single "It's a Love Thing", followed by the number-four "Your Everything", which made him the first male New Zealand performer to reach the Top 10 on the US country charts. Its follow-up, "But for the Grace of God", written by Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's, became his first number 1 hit on the charts. The last single, "Where the Blacktop Ends", written by Steve Wariner and Allen Shamblin, went to number three. He won the Top New Male Vocalist Award at the 2001 Academy of Country Music Awards and the 2001 Country Music Association's Horizon Award. Allmusic's Thom Jurek described the first and third singles favorably, and praised the instrumental track "Rollercoaster", saying that Urban was "flat picking his Stratocaster like it was another extremity he was born with." He thought that those songs "balance the slick and sometimes too-soft production on the record".

2002-2006: «Golden Road» & «Be Here»

Urban released his second American album "Golden Road" in 2002. Of the 13 songs included on this album, Urban produced seven himself and co-produced the other six with Dann Huff. The album's lead-off single "Somebody Like You" was released in July 2002 and spent six weeks at number-one.

The second single was the number-three hit "Raining on Sunday", which Radney Foster had previously released as a single from his 1998 album "See What You Want to See". The third and fourth singles from the album, "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me" and "You'll Think of Me", went to number-one, with the latter winning him the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 2005.

On 22 September 2005, Urban's third studio album "Golden Road" was certified triple platinum, for sales of three million copies.

In 2002, Urban posed nude for Playgirl. On the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he stated on that he regrets posing nude despite not showing any full frontal nudity.

Urban performed "Lights on the Hill" for Tamworth's 2004 tribute concert following the death of Australia's Slim Dusty, an artist whom he had both written for and covered.

In 2005, Urban performed in front of European audiences for the first time. In May, Urban supported Bryan Adams on his UK and Ireland tour, which included dates in Earls Court, London, SECC, Glasgow and The Point, Dublin. On 6 June a UK only album, "Days Go By", was released. The album contained songs from both "Be Here" and "Golden Road".

"You Look Good in My Shirt" was originally intended to be the fifth single from this album. Instead, Capitol chose to release "Days Go By", the lead-off to his third American album "Be Here". By late 2004, this song became Urban's fifth number-one hit on the country chart.

Although it was not officially released, "You Look Good in My Shirt" spent one-week at number 60 on the country charts in July 2004 and remained a fan favorite. The next single from this album was the #2 "You're My Better Half", followed by the five-week number 1 "Making Memories of Us", which was written by Rodney Crowell and previously recorded by both Tracy Byrd and Crowell's side project The Notorious Cherry Bombs. The next singles from this album were "Better Life" and "Tonight I Wanna Cry". The former, which Urban wrote with Richard Marx, spent six weeks at number 1 and the latter spent three weeks at number 2. After this song, "Live to Love Another Day" spent 14 weeks on the country chart, reaching a peak of number 48, although it was never officially released as a single.

2006-2008: «Love, Pain, & The Whole Crazy Thing» and «Greatest Hits: 18 Kids»

On 21 August 2006, Urban's "Once in a Lifetime" debuted at No. 17, setting what was then a new record for the highest-debuting country single in the 62-year history of the Hot Country Songs chart. Despite the high debut, the song peaked at number 6. Following it was "Stupid Boy", which was co-written by Sarah Buxton and went to number 3 as well as winning him his second Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 2007.

The album's next two singles, "I Told You So" and "Everybody", respectively peaked at numbers 2 and 5. Urban released his first greatest hits collection "Greatest Hits: 18 Kids" on 20 November 2007. This compilation contains all of his Top 10 hits, along with two new songs, "Romeo's Tune" and "Got It Right This Time (The Celebration)".

In January 2008, Urban embarked on the Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing Carnival Ride Tour with fellow country singer Carrie Underwood. In early-May 2008, Urban debuted a new song at the Grand Ole Opry titled "A New Sunshine". That same month, Urban recorded a new version of "You Look Good in My Shirt" and released it as a single in June of that year.

"Over the years it ("You Look Good In My Shirt") has always played like a hit song," Urban said. "That, combined with numerous requests from both fans and radio about why it was never a single, inspired us to get back into the studio and re-record the song." The single was a precursor to the "Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy World Tour" concert DVD release in fall of 2008.

Later that year, Urban served as a duet artist for Brad Paisley's single "Start a Band", on whom both he and Paisley sang and played guitar. This song was included on Paisley's album "Play" and it went to No. 1 in January 2009.

2008-2010: «Defying Gravity»

Urban announced that the lead single for his fifth studio album would be entitled "Sweet Thing". This song became the 10th No.1 hit. Capitol Records released the album, "Defying Gravity", on 31 March 2009. The second single, "Kiss a Girl", was released in March 2009. Urban performed this song on American Idol, during the season 8 finale, as a duet with eventual winner Kris Allen. "Only You Can Love Me This Way", the third single, went to number-one. The fourth single, "'Til Summer Comes Around", went to number-three. The fifth and final single "I'm In" is a cover of song by Radney Foster, taken from the same album as "Raining on Sunday" was. This song was also recorded by The Kinleys, whose version had been a Top 40 single in 2000. Urban's rendition went to number-two. Between the two, Urban also made a guest appearance on then-labelmate Emily West's single "Blue Sky", which charted at number-38.

Urban's 2009 Escape Together tour, supporting the "Defying Gravity" album, featured many big name opening acts, such as Taylor Swift, Sugarland, and Jason Aldean.

On 27 June 2009, Urban filmed a video for the song, "Only You Can Love Me This Way", at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. In 2009, Urban was also a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

2010-2012: «Get Closer»

In May 2010, Urban entered the studio to begin work on a new album. The recording process was documented in a blog on his official website. At the beginning of September, it was announced that the album would be titled "Get Closer" and would see release on 16 November. "Put You in a Song" was released as its first single on 13 September. It went to number 2, followed by "Without You", "Long Hot Summer", and "You Gonna Fly", all of which went to number 1. Urban wrote "Put You in a Song" with Sarah Buxton and Jedd Hughes, and "Long Hot Summer" with Richard Marx. Preston Brust and Chris Lucas, who comprise the LoCash Cowboys, co-wrote "You Gonna Fly" with Jaren Johnston, then-member of the group American Bang. After "You Gonna Fly" fell from the charts, Urban released "For You", which was featured as the theme song of the 2012 action film Act of Valor and appeared on the film's soundtrack. The song peaked at number 6 on the country charts.

On 10 April 2012, Urban was invited to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry by Vince Gill at the third annual We're All for the Hall benefit concert which Urban organized. He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on 21 April 2012.

Urban plays guitar on Tim McGraw's early-2013 single "Highway Don't Care", which also features a guest vocal from Taylor Swift. This song is the third single from McGraw's album "Two Lanes of Freedom".

2013-2015: «Fuse»

On 13 May 2013, Urban released the single "Little Bit of Everything", produced by Nathan Chapman. It was the first single from his eighth studio album, "Fuse", which was released on 10 September 2013.

The official music video for "Little Bit Of Everything" debuted on VEVO on 25 July 2013. Unlike his previous albums, Urban co-produced with ten other producers on this album. The album's second single, "We Were Us", is a duet with Miranda Lambert. It reached number one on the Country Airplay chart in December 2013.

The third single, "Cop Car", was released in January 2014. A fourth single, "Somewhere in My Car" was released in June 2014. A fifth single, a duet with Eric Church, "Raise 'Em Up", was released to country radio on 26 January 2015. It reached at number 1 on the Country Airplay in May 2015.

2015-2017: «Ripcord»

In June 2015, Urban released "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16", as the lead single to his eighth American studio album, "Ripcord". In October 2015, Urban teased a new song called "Break on Me"; it was released to the public on 23 October. It reached number one on the Country Airplay chart. On 22 September 2015, Urban celebrated the 10th anniversary of his third studio album "Golden Road" being certified triple platinum, for sales of three million copies of his record. "Wasted Time" was released as the album's third single and it went on to reach the number one spot on the Country Airplay chart. "Blue Ain't Your Color" was released as the album's fourth single and became a huge hit for Urban. It topped the Hot Country Songs chart as well as the Country Airplay Chart, spending twelve weeks at number one on the former chart. "The Fighter", a duet with Carrie Underwood, was released as the fifth single from the album.

In 2016, Urban was selected as one of thirty artists to perform on "Forever Country", a medley of "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "On the Road Again", and "I Will Always Love You" which celebrates 50 years of the CMA Awards.

2017-present: «Graffiti U»

On 8 November 2017, Urban released a new song entitled "Female", which has been described as "an empowerment anthem partially inspired by the Harvey Weinstein scandal." Urban said that the song "[a]s a husband and a father of two young girls." "It affects me in a lot of ways. And as a son - my mother is alive," he added. "It just speaks to all of the females in my life, particularly. For a guy who grew up with no sisters in a house of boys, it’s incredible how now I’m surrounded by girls. But not only in my house; I employ a huge amount of women in my team. The song just hit me for so many reasons." Kidman provided background vocals on the song. The song would serve as the lead single for Urban's tenth studio album.

It was announced that Urban's tenth studio album would be entitled "Graffiti U" and that a world tour in support of it will begin in summer 2018. On 19 January, the song "Parallel Line" was released as the album's second single. On 21 March, Urban released the album's third single "Coming Home", a heavily pop-influenced, upbeat song featuring a duet with pop singer Julia Michaels. This song also features a revamped version of the opening riff of Merle Haggard's hit "Mama Tried" throughout it and with his family's blessing, Haggard even received a posthumous credit for writing the song. "Coming Home" reached number 1 on the Mediabase Country Chart on 5 August 2018. As well as Julia Michaels, the album also features duets with Lindsay Ell, Shy Carter, and Kassi Ashton.

On 16 May 2019, Keith Urban released a brand new single, "We Were", a reflective mid-tempo ode to mischievous youth. "I like the idea that life just happens. At some point, whether in the moment or not, you just gotta go with it" he said.

On November 24, 2019, Urban played the halftime show at the Canadian Football League's Grey Cup championship in Calgary.

Television appearances

The Voice

On 23 November 2011, Urban was confirmed as one of the four vocal coaches in the Australian version of the reality singing competition The Voice.

On 14 September 2012, Urban released a statement that he would not be signing back on for season 2.

American Idol

The Fox Broadcasting Company officially announced on 16 September 2012 that Urban would replace Steven Tyler as a judge in season 12 of American Idol alongside Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj. On 1 August 2013, it was officially confirmed that Urban would return as a judge for season 13. He was joined by former judge Jennifer Lopez and newest judge Harry Connick, Jr.. On 23 June 2014, Fox announced that Urban would return to the judging panel for season 14. Urban returned to judge the farewell finale season of American Idol in 2016.

Signature guitar line

In October 2013, during a concert in Tampa, Florida, Urban announced he would be offering his own signature package of guitars and accessories, sold through Home Shopping Network (HSN). HSN offered the guitar packages twice in sixth months, resulting in 42,000 sales. A portion of the proceeds benefit The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation and the Grammy Foundation.

Personal life

While living in Nashville, Urban became a frequent user of cocaine. After reaching a personal low point in 1998, he became determined to give up the habit and checked into Cumberland Heights, a treatment center in Nashville.

Urban met American-born Australian actress Nicole Kidman at G'Day LA, a Hollywood event honoring Australians, in January 2005, but they reportedly did not begin dating until six months later. Kidman and Urban were married on Sunday, 25 June 2006, at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly in Sydney.

On 19 October 2006, Urban checked himself into the Betty Ford Center in California. On 20 October, Urban issued a statement saying: "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones who love and support me. One can never let one's guard down on recovery, and I'm afraid that I have." On 18 January 2007, Urban announced his completion of rehab and his plans to go on tour to promote his new album, "Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing".

On 2 February 2007, Urban filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey painter by the same name, who has a web site called KeithUrban.com. The singer wanted to acquire the rights to the URL. The painter counter-sued. The lawsuit was settled in the painter's favor.

On 1 October 2007, while riding, Urban skidded off his motorbike when a paparazzo followed him near his home in Sydney; Urban was not hurt. In a statement released by his publicists, Urban said that the incident was "the result of one person's desire to do his job and my desire to maintain my privacy". Urban said that he tried to avoid an oncoming car and dropped his bike. He said the photographer came to his assistance without taking photos.

On 7 January 2008, Nicole Kidman confirmed she and Urban were expecting their first child together. Kidman's publicist said "the couple are thrilled and cannot wait." Kidman gave birth to a daughter on 7 July 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee. On his website, Urban stated:

"Earlier this morning Nic gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban. We want to thank everybody that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We feel very, very blessed and grateful that we can share this joy with all of my loving fans today."