‘The Road’ Contestant Praises Keith Urban as “A True Artist”

Billie Jo Jones has nothing but praise for Keith Urban. In an interview with The Daily Mail, the country singer, who’s a contestant on Urban’s new competition series The Road, gushed over the superstar.

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“You wouldn’t even know that he was going through anything,” Jones said of Urban, presumably alluding to his ongoing split from wife Nicole Kidman. “He definitely pushed personal stuff aside and was business professional the entire time, which is what a true artist should be and should be doing.”

For Jones, that’s just one of many reasons she considered working with Urban “a dream come true.”

“He is one of those people that really wants the best for you and really pushes you to be your best self,” she said.

On The Road, 12 singers travel from city to city, opening up for Urban. At each show, the live audience votes on who gets to move on in the competition, and determines who’s sent packing.

What to Know About ‘The Road’

The CBS series gives viewers an unvarnished look at the life of a touring musician. It’s not an easy job for many reasons, some of which Urban discussed on the premiere episode, per the outlet.

“It’s a calling, and you’re going to do it or you’re not going to make it,” Urban told the contestants. “When you wake up on a tour bus at 3:30 in the morning and you’re sick as a dog, you’re in the middle of nowhere and you’ve got to play your fifth show later that night, and you haven’t slept, and you miss your friends, and you’re missing your family, and you’re completely lonely and miserable and sick, you say to yourself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ The only answer can be: Because this is what I’m born to do.”

Jones connected with that sentiment, telling the outlet of touring, “It’s something that you’ve got to want it more than anything in the world to put yourself through it because it is hard.”

“It’s time away from home, away from my kiddos, but it’s definitely worth it in the end because I know God didn’t give me this voice to just sit at home with, he gave it to me to go and share with others,” she said. “It’s definitely a lot of hard work, a lot of determination, but it is so rewarding in the end.”

Viewers at home get to see all that play out on The Road, as contestant Jenny Tolman told American Songwriter, “You’re gonna get a real behind-the-scenes look at what it is like as a touring musician, to have to leave your family, to see what when the rubber hits the road, no pun intended. It’s not always as beautiful as it looks.”

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