The following article mentions addiction struggles and child abuse.
Since then, the Australian singer and guitarist has charted numerous No.
As theDaily Mailnoted, his parents eventually settled in Brisbane, where they ran a small corner store.
For a time, the family lived in a home situated behind the shop.
Long beforeKeith Urban transformedinto a world-renowned superstar, he lived a humble life.
Interviewed byGlamour, Urban’s wife, Nicole Kidman, discussed her own hardscrabble background.
“He grew up on a farm, literally in a shed.
They didn’t have bedrooms.
Four of them lived in a shed.”
According to Kidman, Urban and his family relied on friends to get by.
“No intimacy,” he explained.
Looking back at his childhood, Keith remembered his father doling out discipline with corporal punishment.
“My recollection is that he was a physical disciplinarian,” he said.
“Ten years ago, I would have said, ‘He never did anything I didn’t deserve.’
Now I realize it’s not about deserving it,” Keith mused.
“I don’t think he was in denial, he genuinely had no recollection.
I never did that!'”
Keith also remembered experiencing little in the way of affection from his father.
Urban reflected on this in 2016, while accepting the Artist Humanitarian Award from the Country Radio Broadcasters.
In his acceptance speech, Urban recalled that he was just nine years old at the time.
That experience molded Urban, and contributed to his tendency toward philanthropy after he became a successful country star.
His drug usage took a turn when a roommate asked if he wanted to freebase cocaine.
“And then one day he offered me this massive pipe,” Urban told the magazine.
“I’d never had it, it looked good, so I took it.
Things didn’t immediately go pear-shaped, but that was the beginning of it.”
“I stepped up my drinking.
I started doing more drugs,” Urban said.
“The whole back end of the ’90s were just awful.”
“We lived in the studio.
“I felt like I didn’t have much of anything to offer.
I was just an alien.”
“They were my thing,” he said of his drugs of choice.
“I loved them.”
Eventually, the substances that once made him feel good only served to make him feel worse.
What happens when you drink?'
And I said, ‘I break out in cuffs.'”
Ultimately, he explained, “I had to find a different way to be in the world.”
He credited his relationship with Kidman for being able to better communicate his feelings to his loved ones.
He also expressed his gratitude that his daughters wouldn’t face those struggles.
He eventually exited the facility after three months of treatment, in January 2007.
He subsequently revealed why he chose to spend an extended amount of time in rehab.
“My wife put an intervention together and it was … it was divine,” he said.
“I mean, ‘divine intervention,’ but it’s true, it really was.
It was love in action and the timing was absolutely divine.”
He was 72 years old.
AsReutersreported, a photographer followed him, also riding a motorcycle.
As Urban was being chased, he got into an accident while trying to avoid hitting an oncoming vehicle.
“I returned home, got my car and continued on my way.”
Urban was thankfully uninjured after the incident, but was reportedly seen visibly shaking.
He subsequently issued a statement of apology for his 11th hour cancellation.
“I’m lucky to have a rock of a husband and a strong faith,” she said.
“I have both those things.”
“He’s probably only got a few weeks, if that,” Keith toldThe Tennessean.
“I’ve just been dealing with that the last couple of days.
“My dad is the catalyst for me living in America,” he said.
Keith’s estimate was, tragically, far too optimistic.
Just a few days later, Keith announced that Robert had died.
The streets are cleaned, the skies are blue, there’s no humidity and it’s beautiful.”
According to Urban, it doesn’t take a whole lot to make him break into tears.
