andPOP » Keith Urban

Keith Urban Seeks Name For Webisode Series

Eva Lam — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:36:38 +0000

Country superstar Keith Urban is asking fans to name his weekly webisode series, which debuted earlier this month.

The weekly installments, which air every Thursday, give fans a peek into Urban’s music career, including behind-the-scenes footage from his “Defying Gravity” promotional campaign and video from his recent six-city Verizon VIP Tour.

This week’s episode will focus on rehearsals for Urban’s “Escape Together World Tour,” which launches on May 7 in Connecticut. Each show on the 58-city trek will feature a huge supporting act: Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley, Glen Campbell, Little Big Town or the Zac Brown Band.

For tour dates and to view the webisode series, check out Urban’s official website here. You can also enter a contest to win a Keith Urban prize package.

Urban has been nominated in three categories at the upcoming 2009 CMT Awards: male video of the year for “Sweet Thing,” collaborative video of the year for “Start a Band” and CMT performance of the year for “Raise the Barn.” Go to the awards website here to cast your vote.

Keith Urban To Play Nashville 4 Africa

Eva Lam — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:00:20 +0000

Keith Urban, who debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts last week with his album “Defying Gravity,” has joined the lineup for the inaugural Nashville 4 Africa benefit concert later this month.

According to Rolling Stone, the country star will share the bill with Faith Hill, Dierks Bentley, Big Kenny, Brad Arnold of 3 Doors Down, the African Children’s Choir and others.

The event is scheduled to take place at the Tennessee capital’s Schermerhorn Auditorium on April 22.

Tickets are on sale now, with proceeds benefiting charities that help build schools and promote education in Africa. For more information, visit the Nashville 4 Africa website here.

“Defying Gravity,” Urban’s fifth studio album, sold close to 172,000 copies in its first week to top the Billboard 200 chart, edging out Prince’s “Lotus Flow3r” (168,000).

Nicole Kidman Delivers a Baby Girl

Irene Ogrodnik — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:45:22 +0000

In celebrity baby news, Nicole Kidman gave birth to a healthy baby girl this morning in Nashville, reports E! News.

Kidman and husband Keith Urban named their first child Sunday Rose Kidman Urban. The new bundle checked in at 6 pounds, 7½ ounces, according to a statement from their publicist.

“Keith was by Nicole’s side, and mother and baby are very well,” the rep said.
Urban also posted the good news on his website:

“Earlier this morning, Nic gave birth to our beautiful baby girl,” he wrote. “We want to thank everybody that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We feel very blessed and grateful that we can share this joy with all of you today.”

Kidman and Urban married June 25, 2006 and announced their pregnancy in January. Kidman has two other children from her marriage to Tom Cruise, Isabella, 15, and Connor, 13.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s Marraige

andPOP Staff — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:37:12 +0000

Nicole Kidman has called her relationship much more laid-back than her previous marriage to Tom Cruise.

She told Vogue magazine, “Keith and I, we’re more like, ‘Hey’ [she shrugs and smiles]. We just gently, gently sort of fell into each other. We were just two lonely people who went, ‘Ah, there you are.’ I’m so committed to this relationship, and so is he. I don’t have addiction problems, but love is a very powerful force in my life. It’s my fatal flaw and my virtue.”

The couple are expecting a child this summer – an overwhelming emotional ride for Kidman, who has suffered several miscarriages.

“When I first saw the baby on the ultrasound, I started crying,” she said in the interview. “I didn’t think I’d get to experience that in my lifetime. I like the unpredictable nature of it. To feel life growing with you is something very, very special, and I’m going to embrace that completely.”

Confirmed: Nicole Kidman Pregnant

andPOP Staff — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 04:19:32 +0000

The rumours are finally true: Nicole Kidman is pregnant with her first biological child.

After denying reports that she and hubby Keith Urban were knocked up, Kidman’s publicist confirmed the pregnancy yesterday, releasing this statement: “Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban confirmed today that they are expecting a baby. The couple are thrilled.”

Kidman has two adopted children with ex-husband Tom Cruise, young teens Isabella and Connor. This will be the first child for Urban.

The couple married in the summer of 2006. Urban checked himself into rehab for alcohol abuse several months later, but with Kidman by his side he has been doing much better.

Keith Urban Takes Toronto By Storm

andPOP Staff — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 22:18:47 +0000

Toronto may have been hit by a snowstorm Tuesday, but it was hit with a second storm on Wendesday night – this one courtesy of country superstar Keith Urban.

Urban put on one hell of a show for select fans and the press at a “secret” concert at the Mod Club in Toronto.

The crowd was hopping as soon as the country singer took the stage, often singing louder than Urban. So for a good chunk of the night, he turned his microphone around so the crowd could take over on vocals while he played the guitar.

The native Australian, who left rehab a few months ago, said this was only the second time his band has played together since October, the other coming recently in Chicago. His tour doesn’t start until April (it won’t hit Canada until September), but the boys just wanted to play.

And play they did.

Despite the concert being on Valentine’s Day, Urban didn’t give his concert a romantic theme, far from it. He played such non-loving hits as “You’ll Think of Me.” After the song, he said, it’s a “screw you Valentine’s Day” kind of tune. (His wife, Nicole Kidman, did not make the trip to Toronto.)

He also played his current number one single in Canada, “Stupid Boy,” the top country song in the country for four weeks in a row.

After his first two songs, he chatted up the crowd. When a woman yelled out, “I love you Keith!” the country superstar blushed a little before replying, “I love you too, sweetheart.” He then jokingly commented that the woman must have started drinking early in the day.

He continued to joke along with the crowd, but it was clear Urban wanted to play. Other songs he performed included, “Once in a Lifetime,” “If You Wanna Stay,” “Your Everything” and “Days Go By,” among many more.

When he asked where everyone was from, a few people in the front yelled Calgary. The singer took the bait asking how many other Calgarians were there; there were a few shouts.

“Ah, four more,” he said wryly.

Urban’s performance was only scheduled to last 45 minutes, but instead he took the stage 10 minutes early, and played 15 minutes past the scheduled cut-off time. Before leaving the stage after playing two songs as an encore, he shook hands with the fans in the front row.

His original goal may have been to promote his new album, “Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy Thing,” but it was clear from the opening chord that Urban just likes to play his music and jam with his buddies.

Urban Opens Up About Rehab Stint In Moving Website Video

andPOP Staff — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 02:18:04 +0000

Troubled country star KEITH URBAN has opened his heart about his decision to enter a rehab facility to curb his alcoholism in a moving new video message.

The candid footage, posted on his website, comes just a week after the Aussie singer confirmed he had completed treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic in California.

In the video, Urban, who checked in to rehab last October after telling fans and friends he was struggling to stay sober, reveals, “There was no big, cataclysmic event that happened right before I went in.

“(Just) a lot of small things that were happening in my life, and a lot of small moments that were starting to accumulate that were telling me very loud and clear that I was a long way from my programme of recovery, and they were making my life unmanageable.”

Urban admits the timing of his rehab stint couldn’t have been worse: “It was far from an ideal time to go into treatment. While I was in there… I had my birthday… my record was released, I missed Thanksgiving, and all the holidays.”

The singer, who is married to actress NICOLE KIDMAN, reveals he had planned a 30-day stay at the Betty Ford Center in Palm Springs, California, but his time there was extended.

He explains, “Thirty days became 60, 60 days became 90, and, with each week that passed, I found myself really learning to surrender.”

Urban concludes the video with a special message to his wife, adding, “(She) stayed extraordinarily strong, and loving, and my friends and family were there. It’s just been really overwhelming.”

Urban Returns To The Road

andPOP Staff — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 01:39:14 +0000

Troubled country star KEITH URBAN is planning to make his first public appearance next month, after battling his alcohol problems in rehab in Chicago, Illinois.

The singer, who has spent the past two months in rehab facilities after confessing he’d relapsed as an alcoholic, has decided his life as a recluse is nearing an end and he’s planning to face his fans again.

Urban has announced he’ll play a show at the Chicago Theatre on February 8 as part of a local country radio station’s Live Country for Kids concert series.

The concert will benefit the St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

The show was originally scheduled for November 11, but Urban was forced to pull out of the concert to attend to his personal problems.

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman Reunited

andPOP Staff — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 15:34:45 +0000

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman had a late Christmas present.

CBC.com reports the couple reunited in Sydney, Australia after Urban completed a stint in rehab for alcoholism.

The couple has been sighted in Sydney holding hands, killing rumours that they had split. No official comment has been made by either’s publicist.

The rumour of a split came after a British magazine claimed that Urban was having an affair on Kidman, his wife of six months, with an English model.

Nicole Kidman Visits Hubby in Rehab

andPOP Staff — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 21:23:22 +0000

Actress Nicole Kidman paid a visit to husband Keith Urban in rehab, squashing rumours their marriage is on the rocks.

Kidman was spotted with her country singer husband at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Sunday.

“Keith is expected to be in rehab for 35 to 40 days,” a source told US Weekly.

Urban was admitted to the centre on Oct. 19, where rehab programs start at $21,000 US.

Rumours of alcoholism and cocaine addition have swirled around Urban’s rehab stint. Even so, he took home the Best Male Vocalist trophy during Monday’s Country Music Association Awards in Nashville.