Keith Urban has just announced 2019 tour dates for Graffiti U, his first Australian tour in two years, and as if that’s not enough to get Australia talking, the country music superstar is set to open up to Andrew Denton on Tuesday night’s Interview.
It’s been a big week for the of two, and it’s about to get bigger as Keith prepares to get very real and very raw, reflecting on his past, his drug use, his time in rehab and the love of his life, wife, Nicole Kidman on national TV.
To help you to get to know the man affectionately known as the ‘Caboolture Kid’, we’ve taken a look back at some of his most significant milestones.
Young Keith was a natural on any instrument he picked up.
Keith Urban early life
We hate to start this way, but did you know Keith isn’t actually an Australian?
Yep, he was born in New Zealand, and he and his parents moved to Caboolture, QLD when he was in teens.
Keith’s Dad was a big country music fan, which led Keith to start playing country music from a very young age. He was on natural with almost every instrument he picked up.
Recognising his talent as something extraordinary, Keith’s parents began an annual pilgrimage to the Tamworth country music festival. Keith played the festival for several years and won multiple awards, including seven golden guitars.
The star, pictured here in 2001, has been sober for ten years.
Sadly, it wasn’t all good times and guitars for Keith who told Rolling Stone in 2016 he wishes he would have grown up in a more “intimate” household.
“My dad was an alcoholic, and I grew up in an alcoholic’s house. No intimacy.”
When he was just 23-years-old, Keith won an Australian contest called Star Maker, which led to a recording contract, four hit singles and soon after a move to Nashville, the home of country music.
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Keith urban’s battle with drugs
“There’s just so much s— underneath all that that you didn’t see,” a then 48-year-old Keith told Rolling Stone.
While it would appear from the outside that Keith Urban lives the good life with his wife and kids in their Nashville mansion, the country music star’s road hasn’t always been so smooth.
“They know me now as being married to Nic. They’ve seen me on TV. And they just sort of think, ‘He’s the luckiest guy in the world.'”
“When I was onstage, I felt good, but if I was not onstage, I was very, very insecure,” he said referring to his time in the spotlight during the ’90s.
The star, who admitted to dabbling with drugs a few times in his early career, recalls one particularly crushing breakup as the turning point that sent him spiraling.
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“I was on the phone with this girl I was dating. She’s trying to break up with me. I’m saying, ‘What the hell? What’s going on? What’s happened?’ And eventually she said, ‘For F—‘s sake, can’t you see that the novelty of you has worn off?'”
“You might say, ‘Big deal.’ But I was feeling insecure, and the fact that me and my accent would be a novelty to somebody cut me to the core. Oh, my God. Really bad. It devastated me.”
“It was a turning point. After that, s— started to really go awry. I stepped up my drinking. I started doing more drugs. Yeah, man. The whole back end of the Nineties were just awful.”
Nicole Kidman has been happily married to Keith Urban for 12 years now.
Keith and Nicole’s love story
Nicole Kidman has been happily married to Keith Urban for 12 years now.
The pair, who married in 2006, share two beautiful daughters, 10-year-old Sunday Rose and seven-year-old Faith Margaret.
Keith Urban met Nicole Kidman at a 2005 G’Day USA gala, and while the Aussie actress let Keith know she was keen right from the start, Andrew Denton is quick to asks Keith, during his segment on Interview, what on earth he was thinking waiting an entire 4 months before before calling Nicole.
How Nicole Kidman helped save Keith Urban
As mentioned above, Keith met the love of his life, Nicole in 2005, and married her in 2006.
What you may not know is that the musician checked into rehab twice in the years prior to his nuptials, but when Nicole staged an intervention four months after they said “I do” in 2006, the star left home on a three month journey to sobriety.
“I caused the implosion of my fresh marriage,” he recalled.
“It survived, but it’s a miracle it did. I was spiritually awoken with her. I use the expression ‘I was born into her,’ and that’s how I feel.”
“And for the first time in my life, I could shake off the shackles of addiction.”
In 2007 Urban told People more about the experince, “It was like, ‘If I don’t choose this moment to do the right thing and do something that’s going to give me life, all of the things I’m scared of losing, I’m going to lose anyway.”
“Definitely we both met each other exactly at the right time,” he said. “She said early on that she wanted to be brave with me. I feel there was something else at work, bringing us together and then just continuing to watch over us.”
“I caused the implosion of my fresh marriage,” Keith recalls.
Keith Urban on being a Dad
The country music superstar is also a doting Dad to his two daughters, Sunday Rose and Faith and, unsurprisingly, both girls LOVE their Dad’s ‘rockstar’ lifestyle.
“I have the advantage of having a tour bus, and they love the tour bus,” Keith said during a guest appearance on The Project in May.
And it’s not just the bus; the girls are also delighted by the fantastic catering on offer through both his and Nicole’s jobs.
“It depends who has the better food,” Keith replies when asked who the favourite parent is byThe Project panel.
“I got catering on tour, mum’s got craft services on the set. So whoever has the better food”.
Keith and family – looks like Faith (far right) has no patience for the paparazzi. That’s some serious side eye.
To celebrate Sunday Rose’s 10th birthday, which took place on Saturday, July 7th, her proud parents took to social media and shared a rare and intimate photo from her birth back in 2008.
Keith shared the moving black and white photo along with the caption: “Ten years ago today our little girl came into the world. You are our joy Sunday Rose. We love you, Happy Birthday.”
“Ten years ago today our little girl came into the world. You are our joy Sunday Rose. We love you, Happy Birthday.”
