Keith Lionel Urban was born in Whangari New Zealand in 1967 but moved with his parents to Queensland Australia when he was six years old.
A keen performer from an early age, Keith Urban learned the guitar and entered singing contests at around the age of eight.
He was interested in Australian country music and started being known as a country performer on the Australian country music scene. He was invited on to various Australian country music TV programmes, often performing with local female singer Jenny Wilson with whom he won a golden guitar award at the Tamworth country Music Festival – one of Australia’s biggest music festivals.
Keith Urban signed to EMI Australia in 1990 and released his first album “Keith Urban” in 1991. This charted four hit singles in Australia and New Zealand. Around this time Keith Urban also worked with Australian country legend Slim Dusty – reworking a Slim Dusty classic song “Lights on the Hill”.
In 1992 Keith Urban moved to Nashville USA and found some success as a singer and guitarist for country stars such as Alan Jackson. Keith Urban formed a three-piece band called the Ranch and they released one album in 1997 before disbanding in 1998. Keith Urban released a solo album in 1999, again self titled but with different material to his Australian album that gave him his US breakthrough. This went to platinum and established Keith Urban, giving him a number one single with “But for the Grace of God”.
Keith Urban has released six studio albums, one greatest hits album, and 28 singles. His popularity has been mainly confined to the USA and Australia and New Zealand and all his albums since “Keith Urban” 1999 have sold platinum in USA Canada and USA. His most recent album Get Closer was released in November 2010.
Keith Urban is a multi talented musician and plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo, piano, bass, mandolin, bouzouki, electric violin, drums and sitar.
Keith Urban has been very involved in environmental issues performing at Al Gore’s Live Earth concert in 2007 and running his tour buses on bio diesel.
Keith Urban has struggled with cocaine addiction but after checking into the Betty ford clinic in 2007 has beaten this and his best selling album “Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing” deals with this subject.
Keith Urban lives in Australia and is one of Australia’s biggest stars. He married actress Nicole Kidman in 2008 and the couple have one daughter.