Urban, Keith (1967-…), is a popular New Zealand-born Australian country music singer, musician, and songwriter. He is known for combining elements of contemporary pop music with traditional country music. Urban has won a number of awards for his music. He was a judge on the singing-competition television show “American Idol” from 2013 until 2016. Urban was also a coach on the Australian version of the singing-competition TV show “The Voice” in 2012, 2021, and 2022.
Keith Lionel Urbahn was born on Oct. 26, 1967, in Whangarei, North Island, New Zealand. At an early age, he moved with his family to Caboolture, Australia, near Brisbane. He began playing guitar at age 6. He dropped out of high school as a teenager to pursue a career in music. He changed the spelling of his last name to Urban early in his career. In 1991, Urban moved to Nashville, the center of the country music industry, and formed a band called the Ranch. The group’s first album, The Ranch, was released in 1997. In the late 1990’s, Urban worked as a session musician and recorded with the popular American country performers Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks (now called the Chicks). A session musician is hired for specific recording sessions or stage performances.
In 1999, Urban’s debut solo album, Keith Urban, was released. Four hit singles, including the number-one country single “But for the Grace of God,” came from the album. Urban won Grammy Awards for best male country vocal performance for “You’ll Think of Me” from his second album Golden Road (2002); for “Stupid Boy” from the album Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing (2006); and for “Sweet Thing” from the album Defying Gravity (2009). The latter two albums both reached number one on Billboard magazine’s country albums chart. Urban’s fourth album, Be Here (2004), was his first to top the chart. The album also produced three number-one hit singles. They were “Better Life,” “Days Go By,” and “Making Memories of Us.” Urban’s other number-one hits include “Only You Can Love Me This Way” (2009), “Without You” and “Long Hot Summer” (both 2011), and “You Gonna Fly” (2012). He also wrote and performed the song “For You” for the motion picture Act of Valor (2012). Urban’s other number-one country albums in the United States include Fuse (2013), Ripcord (2016), and Graffiti U (2018). Defying Gravity and Fuse also reached number one on Billboard magazine’s “Billboard 200” albums chart.
Urban married the Australian motion-picture actress Nicole Kidman in 2006. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2012. In 2020, Urban was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of his service to the performing arts.
