Before venturing forth as a solo country music artist, was a member of the mid-1990s country band called "The Ranch."
Scored his first No. 1 hit on Billboard magazine's Country Singles and Tracks chart with "But for the Grace of God" in February 2001.
Posed in the April 2001 edition of Playgirl.
Favorite Ice Cream: Nutty Buddy's, Snickers and Hagan Daaz
Favorite restaurant: Cheesecake Factory or Shintomi's in Nashville
Pet Peeves: People who don't look you in the eye when they shake your hand and leave lint in the lint filter or a dryer. And people who show you a bunch of photographs and half of them are out of focus.
He became the first Aussie to win the CMA Male vocalist of the Year in 2004.
His favorite brand of sneakers is Sketchers.
First paying non-music job: at a concert lighting company.
Influences: Glen Campbell, Jimmy Webb, Don Williams, Mark Knopfler, Freddie Mercury, Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Ronnie Milsap and Dolly Parton.
Instruments he can play: Guitar, bass guitar, drums, keyboard, ganjo (a 6 string banjo), sitar, & piano
He was raised in Australia. He moved with his parents and brother to Brisbane, Queensland when he was 2. They later moved to Caboolture, about 1 hour north of Brisbane.
2005 Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year.
Keith Urban Detailed Biography
Keith Lionel Urban (born October 26, 1967 in Whangarei, New Zealand) is a country singer. Keith spent his early years in New Zealand, before moving to Australia and then relocating to Nashville. By age seven, Urban was already thinking about coming to America and making his mark in Nashville, Tennessee.
Urban began to learn the guitar at age 6 and began winning talent contests at age 8. By twelve, he was booking his band in local clubs, and at fifteen, he quit school to hit the road. In 1990, Urban signed with EMI in Australia and recorded his first solo album, which charted four No. 1 country hits in Australia. In 1992, Urban moved to Nashville to pursue the largest country music market in the world. Originally the front man for The Ranch, a three-piece group that released one album in 1997 to critical acclaim, Urban disbanded the group to pursue a solo career.
Urban released his self-titled American debut in 2000, achieving three top 5 hits and securing the title of Top New Male Vocalist Award at the 2001 Academy of Country Music Awards. During this same developmental time period, Urban succumbed to addiction problems. After reaching a personal rock bottom, he checked into rehab and cleaned up.
Keith, openly regarded as a modern day guitar virtuoso, has performed as a session musician on albums such as Garth Brooks' Double Live and Dixie Chicks' Fly.
Urban released Golden Road in 2002 and the success of the single Somebody Like You sent his career into high gear. The single spent eight consecutive weeks at the top of the charts, remaining at #1 longer than any other country artist in 2002. Three other singles were released, two went to #1 and the third was #3. The album went platinum in every country where it has been released and is triple platinum in the U.S.
In 2004 Be Here was released and nominated for best country album at the Grammy Awards and at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Out of the four singles released from "Be Here" three went to #1 and the fourth was #2. In 2006 the album went triple platinum in the U.S. Urban has also released Days Go By, a greatest hits collection, in Europe.
His second single "It s A Love Thing" off his self-titled debut only went to #18 on the charts 2000. Since then 10 singles have been released and everyone of them has made it into the top 4. (career total of 12 singles released - Seven singles went to #1, one went to #18, one went to #4, two went to #3 and one went to #2).
Touring as a supporting act for renowned country acts Brooks and Dunn and Kenny Chesney honed Urban's skills and stage-craft. Country video channel CMT signed on as the title sponsor of Keith Urban's first headlining arena tour titled Keith Urban Be Here '04.
Urban continued his meteoric rise to fame in 2005 with the very successful Alive in '05 tour. He performed in the Live 8 Philadelphia concert on July 2nd 2005 and has been chosen by The Gap to appear alongside seven other bright musical stars in their "Favorites" campaign. He released a DVD in late September entitled Livin' Right Now, recorded in California.
Keith Urban has recently performed "Better Life" on the CMA Awards and "You'll Think of Me" on the American Music Awards.
