What Makes Us Country: Keith Urban's Road To Nashville

Transcript

00:00The Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music's reigning

00:07Entertainer of the Year, Keith Urban, has traveled farther than any other country

00:11artist to make it in Nashville. Born in New Zealand and raised in Australia,

00:16Keith was a young country hopeful in Queensland, Australia, listening to

00:20classic country music with his father. Urban moved to Nashville, but before he

00:26hit the big time, he played with a group called The Ranch and later worked as a

00:30session guitar player before starting his solo career. With anthems like Where the

00:36Blacktop Ends and But for the Grace of God, Keith released his self-titled album in

00:411999, following up in 2002 with his album Golden Road, then again in 2004 with his

00:48album Be Here, which featured another huge hit, You're My Better Half. In 2006, Urban

00:55married Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman, and together the couple have two

00:59daughters, Sundae and Faith. His 2006 album Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing won him

01:06his first Grammy in 2007 for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for Stupid Boy.

01:12He also won Grammys in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, Keith and Vince Gill organized a concert

01:20to benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame called All for the Hall, netting over $2.6 million

01:26for the museum. Special guests for the concerts over seven years included Maren Morris, Dolly

01:33Parton, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and more. In 2011, Keith appeared on Australia's version

01:40of The Voice and later in 2012 was a judge on season 12 of Fox's American Idol along with

01:46Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj. Keith tours each year not only in the U.S.

01:52but in Europe, Australia and beyond.