Keith Urban

Updated on Apr 25, 2026

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Birth name Keith Lionel Urban Height 1.78 m Role Singer · keithurban.net		Name Keith Urban Years active 1990–present Spouse Nicole Kidman (m. 2006)

Born October 26, 1967 (age 58) Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand ( 1967-10-26 ) Origin Caboolture, Queensland,Australiaspouse: Nicole Kidman and Urban were married on Sunday, 25 June 2006 Genres Country poppop rockcountry Occupation(s) Singersongwritermusicianjudgerecord producer Instruments Vocalsguitarkeyboardsdrumsbassbanjopiano Children Faith Margaret Kidman Urban, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban Albums Fuse, Golden Road, Defying Gravity, Be Here, Greatest Hits: 18 Kids

Keith urban biography

Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is a New Zealand-born Australian country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, TV show judge and record producer. In 1991, he released a self-titled debut album and charted four singles in Australia before moving to the United States the following year. He found work as a session guitarist before starting a band known as The Ranch, which recorded one studio album on Capitol Nashville and charted two singles on the 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, 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", earned him his first Grammy Award. 2004's Be Here, his third American album, produced three more number one singles and became his highest-selling album, earning 4× Platinum certification. Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing was released in 2006, containing "Once in a Lifetime" as well as his second Grammy Award song, "Stupid Boy". A greatest hits package entitled 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 a brand new album titled Fuse, which produced four more number ones on the Country Airplay chart, two of which are duets—one with Miranda Lambert and the other with Eric Church. A new single, entitled "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16", was released in June 2015 as the lead-off single to his eighth American studio album Ripcord. The album later 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 twelve weeks at number one.

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Urban has released a total of nine studio albums (one of which was released only in the United Kingdom), 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 and the 2008 single "You Look Good in My Shirt", which he previously recorded on Golden Road. Those also include his third Grammy Award-winning single "Sweet Thing" from his album Defying Gravity.

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Urban is also known for his roles as a coach on the Australian version of the singing competition The Voice and as a judge on American Idol. Since 2006, he has been married to actress Nicole Kidman. In October 2013, Urban introduced his own signature line of guitars and accessories.

Keith urban break on me

Early life

Keith Lionel Urban was born on 26 October 1967, in Whangarei, New Zealand, He is the youngest son of Marienne and Robert "Bob" Urban. At the age of 13, he attended Sir Edmund Hillary College in Otara, South Auckland, New Zealand and by the age of 17, he lived with his parents in Caboolture, Queensland, Australia. His father, who owned a convenience store, put an advertisement for a guitar teacher in his shop window. Urban took lessons from his teacher, Sue McCarthy and began entering local competitions, in addition to acting in a local theater company. Urban has stated that his guitar playing was influenced by two rock players, Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) and Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac).

In 1983, Urban was a contestant on the Australian TV talent show New Faces. A few years later, he began making the inroads into the Australian country music scene, with regular appearances on the Reg Lindsay Country Homestead TV Program, Mike McClellan's Music Program, and various other TV programs performing duets with local Brisbane girl Jenny Wilson. 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 near Caboolture.

1990–1999: Early years

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 live album Live Baby Live (1992).

Urban moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1992. The next year, he appeared in the music video for Alan Jackson's rendition of "Mercury Blues". He and Vernon Rust co-wrote "Jesus Gets Jealous of Santa Claus" on Toby Keith's 1995 album Christmas to Christmas, 4 Runner's 1996 single "That Was Him (This Is Now)", and "Tangled Up in Love" on the Raybon Brothers' 1997 self-titled album. In 1997, he formed a band known as The Ranch, which included drummer Peter Clarke and bassist Jerry Flowers. The Ranch released one self-titled album for Capitol Records Nashville and charted two singles on the Hot Country Songs charts that year: "Walkin' the Country" and "Just Some Love". Throughout the late 1990s, Urban also played guitar on several other artists' albums, such as Paul Jefferson, Tim Wilson, and Charlie Daniels.

1999–2001: Keith Urban

Urban released his self-titled American debut album in 1999 under the production of session pianist Matt Rollings. It was led by the number 18 single "It's a Love Thing", followed by the number-four "Your Everything", which made him the first male New Zealand performer to reach the Top 10 on the US country charts. Its follow-up, "But for the Grace of God", written by Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's, became his first number 1 hit on the charts. The last single, "Where the Blacktop Ends", written by Steve Wariner and Allen Shamblin, went to number three. He won the Top New Male Vocalist Award at the 2001 Academy of Country Music Awards and the 2001 Country Music Association's Horizon Award. Allmusic's Thom Jurek described the first and third singles favorably, and praised the instrumental track "Rollercoaster", saying that Urban was "flat picking his Stratocaster like it was another extremity he was born with." He thought that those songs "balance the slick and sometimes too-soft production on the record".

2002–2006: Golden Road & Be Here

Urban released his second American album Golden Road in 2002. Of the 13 songs included on this album, Urban produced seven himself and co-produced the other six with Dann Huff. The album's lead-off single "Somebody Like You" was released in July 2002 and spent six weeks at number-one. The second single was the number-three hit "Raining on Sunday", which Radney Foster had previously released as a single from his 1998 album See What You Want to See. The third and fourth singles from the album, "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me" and "You'll Think of Me", went to number-one, with the latter winning him the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 2005.