Keith Urban shares why awards make him emotional and his nerves ahead of hosting the ARIAs
It has been a massive year for Keith Urban and as he returns to host the 2018 ARIA Awards, reveals what was behind his tears after Entertainer of the Year win.
Keith Urban couldn’t stop the tears from spilling as his name was read out as Entertainer of The Year at the annual CMA Awards just over a week ago.
With his wife Nicole Kidman also welling as she shared the emotional moment, Urban accepted the award and declared his love for her and their daughters Sunday and Faith and wished his dad Bob was still around to see it.
It appears not all artists are cynical about awards even as audiences for the “night of nights” events prefer to watch their social media feed of the shows than the typically tedious television broadcasts of them.
The outfits, a misplaced F bomb during an acceptance speech, a dud note or misstep in a performance all get more reaction now than the awards themselves.
But the tearful reaction of Urban, who stresses he doesn’t make music to accumulate trophies, suggests the recognition means a hell of a lot.
As he heads home to host the 2018 ARIA Awards this week, Urban said he thought his Entertainer of the Year “ship had sailed.”
“It’s been 13 years since I won that award and honestly, I’ve been nominated for that category quite a few times and there was a point where I thought ‘Well, it’s been more than decade now, I think that ship has sailed’ and I had resigned myself to that,” he says.
“The first time I won was in 2005 and I remember at the time thinking ‘Don’t give me the gold watch just yet’.
“I couldn’t really enjoy it back then because it felt like it was too big, too much, too soon and I wanted a long career and where do you after that? I wasn’t in a good, mature head space to take it in back then.
“So I had hoped to experience the feeling of winning again and to be there with Nic and share it with her, of course.”
It’s been another massive year for Urban who moved to America’s country music capital Nashville to chase his musical dream more than 25 years ago.
His 10th studio record Graffiti U topped the Australian and American country charts and reached No. 2 on the pop charts, confirming the 51-year-old’s status as a bankable artist even as he continues to push his musical boat into uncharted waters.
Writers and producers on the record included pop hitmakers Ed Sheeran, Julia Michaels, Wrecking Ball co-writer Mozella and Greg Wells, who has worked with everyone from Adele to OneRepublic.
He may have been happy with its country meets contemporary production but he admits to suffering some nerves about its reception.
“I had no clue where the music was going when I went into the studio. I don’t mean this to sound all New Agey but I have a lot of faith in the muse and going where it goes,” he says.
“Maybe 10 years ago I was probably guiding it more specifically and not just letting it run.
“Once the record was finished I really loved the songs and I felt really happy with this but I didn’t know what anyone was going to make of it.”
His chart success suggests the fanbase he has doggedly built on the road and loyalty he has courted among the all-powerful country radio gatekeepers in America remain steadfast.
Urban’s star turns on television talent quests have further extended the base of those interested in hearing what he is up to.
Yet when it came to putting the Graffiti U tour on the road in the US, Urban found himself and his team on a “massive uphill climb”.
He said part of his emotional response to the Entertainer of the Year award was due to that struggle to get into a groove.
“Putting the tour together, we had lots of technical issues and figuring out how to put this catalogue of music with these new songs and make it all work together was a huge undertaking,” he says.
“I feel like it took the first four months of touring before we were really getting our show together and loving it. Usually it’s about a month of tinkering.
“Once we got out on the road and started playing, the reaction from the fans was fantastic, beyond anything I could have hoped for and that kept me so buoyant during the early months of the tour.”
His greatest shock during the tour which kicked off in June in the US came when his fans started singing along to his Australian single Parallel Line.
The American label had decided to release Female, a song inspired by the #metoo movement.
“Every artist hopes everyone comes and sings along with the big old hits and the new songs, that’s the golden wish right there,” he says.
“Australia loved Parallel Line so they went with it and America went with Female. This is a new phenomena because back in the day if Australia released a different single to America, no one here in the US would know that song.
“Now, of course, if it’s released in Australia, it’s released on Spotify and Pandora and every streaming service, so it’s available everywhere.
“We hit the road and all these American fans were singing Parallel Line and I was like ‘What the f---? How do people know this song?’ God bless streaming because it means fans are discovering your music even if it’s not a single on radio. Extraordinary times.”
As he heads home for the ARIAs, Urban admits he is “nervous as s---” to take on the thankless task of hosting the event.
Hosts probably get more stick than dodgy acceptance speeches and he jokes it is indeed a “treacherous undertaking”.
“I'm nervous as s--- And then I think ‘Ah, it’s the ARIAs, everyone will be hammered by the first song. They’re all tanked when they get there. So it’ll be all right. No pressure,” he jokes.
As well as hosting, he will be performing his hit single The Fighter with this year’s leading nominee Amy Shark.
Ask him who else he is keen to check out and the man who became famous worldwide for his ability to know almost every single song that could be attempted at a Voice or Idol audition nominates 5 Seconds Of Summer.
“The explosion of Youngblood for 5 Seconds of Summer has been a phenomena. That song around the world has been one of those freakish, Halley’s comet type songs, it’s so f---ing good,” he says.
“An incredibly well-written, well-recorded song. I can’t wait to hear those boys kill it.”
The 2018 ARIA Awards is on Nine on Wednesday from 7.30pm.
Urban brings his Graffiti U tour to Australia in January.
Newcastle Entertainment Centre: January 23
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney: January 25 and 26
GIO Stadium, Canberra: January 27
Brisbane Entertainment Centre: January 31 and February 1, 2
Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne: February 5, 6
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