Keith Urban

Keith Urban - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Keith Urban

Keith Lionel Urban (né Urbahn; born 26 October 1967) is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves International Award, 13 CMA Awards, and six ARIA Music Awards. Urban wrote and performed the song "For You" from the film Act of Valor, which earned him nominations at both the 70th Golden Globe Awards and at the 18th Critics' Choice Awards in the respective Best Original Song categories.

This profile of Keith Urban covers Early Life and Family Background, 1999–2006: Keith Urban, Golden Road and Be Here, 2007–2009: Love, Pain, & the Whole Crazy Thing, Greatest Hits: 18 Kids and Defying Gravity and 2010–2017: Get Closer, Fuse, and Ripcord.

Born in New Zealand, Urban immigrated to Australia as a child. In 1991, he released a self-titled debut album, charting four singles in Australia before moving to the United States the next year. He began 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 fellow country artist Rory Gilliatte, earned him his first Grammy Award. 2004's Be Here, his third American album became his highest-selling album, being certified 4× Platinum. Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing was released in 2006, containing "Once in a Lifetime" as well as his second Grammy Award-winning song, "Stupid Boy". A greatest hits package titled 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 the album Fuse, which produced four more number ones on the Country Airplay chart. "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16" was released in June 2015 as the lead single of his eighth American studio album, Ripcord. Later the album 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 12 weeks atop the chart. His tenth album, Graffiti U, was released in 2018 and includes the top-ten hit "Coming Home". His eleventh album The Speed of Now Part 1 was released in 2020 and includes the global hit "One Too Many" with Pink, in addition to Country Airplay top-ten hits "We Were" and "God Whispered Your Name". In 2024, Urban published his twelfth studio album High.

Urban was a coach on the Australian version of the singing competition The Voice and a judge on American Idol. In October 2013, he introduced his own signature line of guitars and accessories.

Urban has released 12 studio albums (one of which was released only in Australia), as well as one album with his short-lived backing band 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 ("Start a Band") and the 2008 single "You Look Good in My Shirt". Urban has also worked with numerous artists from different music genres, such as Pink, Nelly Furtado, Jason Derulo, Julia Michaels, and Peter Frampton, as well as country artists like Dolly Parton, The Chicks, Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Eric Church and Reba McEntire.

Early Life and Family Background of Keith Urban

Urban was born on 26 October 1967 in Whangārei, Northland, New Zealand. He is the youngest son of Marienne and Robert Urban. At two years of age, Urban moved with his parents to Caboolture, Queensland, in Australia. Expressing an early interest in music, at four he was given a ukulele, and at six he took up the guitar. From an early age Urban's influences reflected the tastes of his parents, who enjoyed country music. His father owned a convenience store and put an ad for a guitar teacher in his shop window, which led to his taking guitar lessons from Sue McCarthy. He entered local competitions and acted in a local theatre company. Urban has said that his guitar playing was influenced by two rock guitarists, Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) and Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac).

In 1980, Urban was a contestant on the Australian TV talent show New Faces. A few years later, he began making inroads into the Australian country music scene, with regular appearances on the Reg Lindsay Country Homestead TV programme, Mike McClellan's music programme, and various other TV programmes performing duets with Jenny Wilson, a girl from Brisbane. They called themselves Silver Spirit. 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, which performed during school holidays at various venues and made appearances on the Reg Lindsey show and Conway Country.

In 1990, Urban won the Star Maker talent quest at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, which led to a recording contract with EMI Music Australia.

Early Life and Family Background of Keith Urban

In November 1989, Urban self-released a promotional extended play seeking a record deal, featuring "Honky Tonk Rock" and "There's a Light On" on the A-side and "Angry Words" and "Future Plans" on the B-side, dubbed Looking for a deal!!.

In 1990, Urban signed with EMI in Australia and released his self-titled debut album. He appeared on the 1990 compilation album Breaking Ground – New Directions in Country Music, which was nominated for the 1991 ARIA Award for Best Country 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 1991 single "Shining Star".

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Urban), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.