The 55-year-old New Zealand-born country star, Keith Urban, is one of the most recognizable names in the genre.
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Whether he’s strumming an acoustic, singing into a microphone, or walking the red carpet with his movie star wife, Nicole Kidman, Urban is an icon.
Boasting four Grammy Awards, 13 CMA Awards, and many more accolades, Urban is known for songs like “You Look Good in My Shirt” and “Blue Ain’t Your Color.”
But with such a recognizable look and sound, one might wonder, who is Keith Urban when he’s not onstage or in the studio? What are his thoughts on life and love, his career, his marriage, his songs, and his craft?
Let’s dive into the answers to those questions here. These are the best 30 Keith Urban quotes.
1. “I think the industry is oblivious to the fact that most people listen to all kinds of stuff. I personally don’t know of anyone who listens to only one genre of music. It’s vanity because no one does.”
2. “You’re always in a different headspace when you make each record, so hopefully they’re all different. You just pick up things that you wish you hadn’t done on the first one.”
3. “I always wish I’d had more mentors, better mentors, wiser mentors, people who were proper professional working musicians to guide me as I was coming up.”
4. “I’ve never wanted to name an album from a song title if I could avoid it because I like it to be a body of work.”
5. “You go through life experiences. Each record captures a different turning point in my life.”
6. “It’s not the case of turning in a bunch of songs and recording the next month. I think you’re looking for songs all year long and you’re writing all year long.”
7. “It can get a little costly if you try and leave it until then to write songs. But you’re writing all the time. You’re collecting songs. I’ve had songs that have been collected over a two-year period for my next record.”
8. “I’ve always been a pretty private, quiet kind of person and so I haven’t had to change my life really at all, I don’t think.”
9. “Red carpets are pretty unpredictable. You can go from one person asking you what you’re wearing to the next person asking you about the situation in Haiti. It’s the extreme juxtaposition, and some of the questions can throw me!”
10. “The world is getting so reality-driven these days. It seems to be accelerating exponentially. But it’s a dangerous game for a lot of people.”
11. “Being with my family is very important to me, and touring is very important to me, too, because it’s who I am. It’s what I do.”
12. “A song like ‘Once in a Lifetime’ is inspired by my marriage—it’s a good, life-changing happening in my life. I think when you find your once-in-a-lifetime love, that’s what everybody’s looking for.”
13. “I make no apologies for being a huge fan of radio songs.”
14. “My father’s record collection was all country. That’s how I was exposed to it.”
15. “I think everybody has different priorities in their life. People live their lives differently. People become famous through all sorts of different reasons… some of it through art and some of it through just wanting to be famous. And I think how that all starts tends to reflect how you live your life daily.”
16. “I’m a little more comfortable in that role. I love being in the studio.”
17. “It’s something I’ve always loved doing. I’m not one of the artists who comes in and just does my bit. I’m there every second of every day. That’s my hands-on situation.”
18. “Once we get into the groove, we’re kind of like long-distance runners—that adrenalin kicks in for me and I just keep running – and I don’t stop!”
19. “They’re mostly done before we went into the studio, although I do like writing in the studio.”
20. “I think it took me a while to convince Nashville that what I do is genuine and my heart’s in the right place, and I love country music.”
21. “I tend to write better when I’m not touring.”
22. “At the end of the day, the Grammys are about recognizing genres that are making an impact.”
23. “Getting on the bus and touring was my life. And when that was not around, I felt myself a bit lost at times, because that was all I had.”
24. “I think there’s just so many people in the world that don’t feel understood, and when you hear a song and you go, ‘Oh, that song understands me,’ that’s an amazing feeling. I get it when I listen to the radio… That’s a beautiful part of music.”
25. “I don’t swear much; I’ve taken those words out of my vocabulary, and having kids, you have to have two sets of language!”
26. “I love the beginnings of artists when all they’ve got is raw talent and nothing else.”
27. “The records in the house I really remember were, well, Glen Campbell’s ‘Wichita Lineman’ and ‘Galveston.’ Even as a kid, I knew these songs were glorious. My dad also had records by Merle Haggard, Charley Pride, Waylon Jennings, and then there was also the Eagles and Don Henley. Anything Texas, which includes Don Henley, was big.”
28. “There are certain songs that are sacred. People want to hear them just as they are in their heads; they don’t want you messing around with them. And then there are some other songs if they’ve been around a long time in our set list, that I think we can take some creative liberties with.”
29. “Country seems to be finding a bigger audience. Certainly, an audience out of the general country scene is finding me.”
30. “Sometimes I just cry at random stuff!”
Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images
