Urban Legend Keith in a Nutshell


Keith Urban says he learned to play guitar as a six-year-old in Australia, when a young woman wanted to place an ad in  his dad's shop window offering guitar lessons. His parents made a deal with her that they would advertise in return for lessons for their young son.  He had a natural ability and young Keith was winning talent shows by the time he was 8.  He also was involved in a youth acting company which required him to sing, dance and memorize lines, all of which led to an ease on stage that would serve him well in his music career.

With a father who was deeply interested in American culture and country music, it was natural that Keith would gravitate towards country music early on, when he was influenced by the singing of Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton and Don Williams, and the songwriting of Jimmy Webb (Galveston).  As a teenager already playing club gigs with a band, he became interested in the guitar playing of rock stars like Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham, and after in-depth study of their techniques and endless practice, Keith brought those influences to his own music.  The resulting unique style of blending country music with rock-style guitar (which he sometimes refers to as "funktry") brought him success in Australia, where he charted three #1 singles and had a successful solo album.

All along Keith knew that to be a real success in country music he would have to go to America.  He made several trips to Nashville in the late '80s where he collaborated with such songwriters as Billboard "Songwriter of the Year" Gary Burr, multiple CMA-winner Trey Bruce, and Hall of Fame member Dave Loggins (Please Come to Boston, Pieces of April)

Soon he realized that the move to America would have to be permanent and headed to Nashville for good.   Once there,  with his Australian bandmate Peter Clarke, a drummer, he formed the three-piece band The Ranch.  Their original bass player soon returned to Australia,  but West Virginian Jerry Flowers quickly fit in as their new bass player.  Their live shows featuring Keith's hot lead guitar playing led to a record deal with Capitol Nashville and a management contract with I.R.S. Records founder/The Police manager Miles Copeland, and their debut album, The Ranch, was released to critical acclaim in 1997.

By 1999, Keith released his self-titled solo album.  His tour in support of that album included opening for such major acts as Dwight Yoakam, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, as well as headlining his own shows.  His stunning solo performances as an opening act won him numerous fans in the Yoakam/Hill/McGraw audiences,  and his talent, hard work, countless interviews  and openness and friendliness to his fans paid off with a Top 15 hit in It's a Love Thing and a Top 10 single with Your Everything.

Two more hit albums soon followed, Golden Road and Be Here. Keith soon progressed from small intimate venues to selling out stadiums.

On June 25, 2006, he married for the first time to actress Nicole Kidman. They have homes in both Nashville and Sydney.


 

 

I Thought You Knew:  Fast Facts on Keith Urban

  • Although raised in Australia, Keith was born in New Zealand, on October 26, 1967.

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  • Keith's first musical instrument was a ukulele, bought for him when he was 4 by his dad, a drummer.  Keith used to strum along on it in time to the radio.

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  • Keith joined a "mouseketeers"-style theater group at the age of 7.

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  • Keith has won five Golden Guitars from the Country Music Awards of Australia (CMAAs), including 1991's New Talent of the Year for I Never Work on a Sunday, 1992's Male Vocalist of the Year for The River and Instrumental of the Year for Clutterbilly, 1998's Instrumental of the Year, again for Clutterbilly, and 2001's Instrumental of the Year, for Rollercoaster.

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  • Keith's band, The Ranch, broke up when Keith developed a severe throat infection and he had to rest his hemorrhaged vocal cords for months.

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  • He's a popular guitarist in Nashville, and has appeared on albums by such superstars as Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks.

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  • He can be spotted in Alan Jackson's Mercury Blues video.

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  • Keith says the the inspiration for 90% of his songs come to him in the shower.  Regarding this muse who visits him in the shower, he says "It has a sense of humor and it likes giving me ideas in the most inopportune times and places. I see my muse looking down and it's laughing its head off at me." 

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  • Keith has made 7 videos:  Only You (Australia only), I Never Work on a Sunday (Australia only), Walkin' the Country, Clutterbilly (both with The Ranch), It's a Love Thing, Your Everything, and But for the Grace of God.

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  • His favorite charities?  Ronald McDonald House, and, in Australia, The Foundation for the Deaf.
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