Keith: ‘I listened to unreleased Taylor songs at Bondi Junction’

Country music superstar and The Voice Australia coach Keith Urban opens up about a surprising encounter with Taylor Swift and life in Sydney with Nicole Kidman.

Keith Urban was doing his Christmas shopping in Bondi Junction last December when he got a text from a friend asking for a favour. The friend in question? Taylor Swift.

“Taylor texted saying, ‘I’ve got a couple of songs, I’d love you to sing on them,’” Urban tells Stellar On Friday.

“I texted back ‘Yeah’ and she texted me the two songs. So, I sat in the food court at Bondi Junction with my AirPods in, listening to these two unreleased Taylor Swift songs. It was crazy.”

Swift recruited Urban to sing on ‘That’s When’ and ‘We Were Happy’, which both feature on Fearless (Taylor’s Version), a re-recording of her 2008 album. Swift had opened for Urban in the US during his 2009 world tour.

Keith Urban and Taylor Swift have collaborated many times over the years. (Picture: Getty Images)

“I jumped in the studio in Sydney, got my parts done and sent them back,” Urban says, adding that the stealth recording request really impressed his two daughters, who are massive Swift fans.

“What I really love about Taylor is she’s driven to keep finding assets of her talent diamond that even she’s never seen before. She believes they’re in there to be discovered so she just keeps exploring. I don’t even think of it as reinventing, I just think it’s constant exploration to see what else can she do with this talent that she’s been given. She’s truly extraordinary.”

Urban fans watching the country superstar on The Voice Australia this year will notice a new addition to his collection of ink – Polynesian-inspired art covering his hand.

“It was something I’d been thinking about doing for a while. I knew I was going to be here during the latter part of last year because Nic [his wife Nicole Kidman] was here doing Nine Perfect Strangers. So I called [fellow The Voice coach] Guy Sebastian. I figured he’d know a good tattoo artist to do my hand. He hooked me up with one of his guys.”

Keith Urban recorded a song to feature in Nine Perfect Strangers, the miniseries his wife Nicole Kidman is set to star in. (Picture: Vince Valitutti/Hulu)

In June, Kidman and Urban got mixed reactions to an Instagram post celebrating their 15th anniversary, in which Urban is seen licking his wife’s neck. Some labelled it “steamy” and “unnecessary”, others said it demonstrated how much they still love each other.

“I don’t really know what to say about that,” Urban says, laughing.

“I’m pretty expressive and in the moment, I don’t really overthink these things. I just post and move on.” There’s new music coming from the prolific Urban. A song recorded earlier this year, ‘Wild Hearts’, is out soon.

He has also recorded music for the Calm meditation app (“I loved pouring myself into something unusual”) and another new song, called ‘Crimson Blue’, is due to play over the final credits of the last episode of Nine Perfect Strangers. Urban said those waiting for the miniseries (dropping August 20 on Amazon Prime Video) will not be disappointed.

“It’s amazing,” he says.

Find more exclusives in this Sunday’s Stellar.

“It’s a bit like micro-dosing – it comes on really slowly; it doesn’t hit you all at once. I still get chills thinking about it. And of course, Nic is doing a role she’s never tackled before [as executive producer]. I said to Nic, ‘I defy anyone to make it to the last ep and not think, Holy shit that was amazing.’ I really do.”

While Urban is about to resume touring in America, he’s hoping his Australian tour in December can go ahead.

The 53-year-old has enjoyed what’s been his longest stint in Australia in years, thanks to the pandemic.

“It’s been fraught with frustrations of my mum and brother up in Queensland not being able to come to see us [in Sydney], but the little windows of time they were able to have been great. Nic’s mum, her sister and all the cousins are in Sydney, so it’s been nice being around family again.”

The Voice starts on the Seven Network this Sunday. Urban’s Australian tour is due to kick off in Newcastle on December 1; for tickets and details, visit keithurban.com.