Keith Urban

For other uses, see Keith Urban (disambiguation).

Keith Urban
AO
Keith Urban, singing into a microphone while playing an electric guitar
Urban in 2020
Born
Keith Lionel Urbahn

(1967-10-26) 26 October 1967 (age 57)
Whangārei, Northland, New Zealand
Citizenship
  • Australia
  • United States
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • guitarist
Years active1990–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2006)​
Children2
AwardsFull list
Musical career
OriginCaboolture, Queensland, Australia
Genres
Instruments
Labels
Formerly ofThe Ranch
Websitekeithurban.com

Keith Lionel Urban[1][2] AO (born Urbahn; 26 October 1967) is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards,[3] he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves International Award,[4] 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.[5]

Urban has released 11 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 ("Start a Band") and the 2008 single "You Look Good in My Shirt". Urban also worked with numerous artists from different music genres, such as Pink, Nelly Furtado, Jason Derulo, Julia Michaels as well as country artists like Dolly Parton, The Chicks, Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Eric Church, and Reba McEntire.

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[6] 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 10 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".

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.

  1. ^ Gregory, Angela (26 June 2006). "Kidman family leave no room for country cousins". New Zealand Herald.
  2. ^ Apter, Jeff (2 May 2009). "Life's a sweet thing". NZ Herald. Retrieved 16 September 2020. Yet it was in Whangarei that Keith Lionel Urbahn entered the world, kicking and screaming, on October 26, 1967. ... Keith shed that bothersome "h" on the road somewhere between Whangarei and Nashville.
  3. ^ "Grammy Awards Winners and Nominees: Keith Urban". Grammy Awards. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  4. ^ "ACM Awards: Winners Search Results, Keith Urban". Academy of Country Music Awards.
  5. ^ "Golden Globe Awards winners and nominees: Keith Urban". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  6. ^ Hollabaugh, Lorie (8 June 2015). "Keith Urban To Debut Single From Next Album". MusicRow. Retrieved 25 June 2015.