Urban was born in Whangarei, North Island, New Zealand (on 26 October, 1967). Before he turned two years old his family moved to Australia. By age seven, Urban was already thinking about emigrating to America and making his mark in Nashville. Urban began to learn the guitar at age six and began winning talent contests at age eight. 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, he 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.
In the late 90's Urban battled an addiction to cocaine. After reaching a personal rock bottom in 1998, he became determined to give up the habit and checked into Cumberland Heights, a treatment center in Nashville. After cleaning up, 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. Urban, openly regarded as a modern day guitar virtuoso, has performed as a session musician on albums such as Garth Brooks' Double Live and the Dixie Chicks' Fly.
In an attempt to gain more exposure, Keith then appeared semi-nude in an interview for Playgirl magazine's April 2001 issue. The publicity attempt worked as Keith was on the cover of the magazine's readers' most requested issue.
Keith 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 No. 1 longer than any other country artist in 2002. Three other singles were released, two went to No. 1 and the third was No. 3. The album went platinum in every country where it has been released and is triple platinum in the United States. 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 five singles released from Be Here, three went No. 1, and two fell just shy of that mark to land at No. 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. With a career total of 13 singles released, seven singles went to No. 1, two went to No.2, two went to No.3, one went to No. 4, and one went to No.18.
Touring as a supporting act for renowned country acts Brooks & 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 2, 2005 and had been chosen by The Gap to appear alongside seven other musical stars in their "Favorites" campaign. In 2005 he was named CMA's Entertainer of the Year. He released a DVD in late September entitled Livin' Right Now, recorded in California on December 2004. Urban performed "Better Life" on the CMA Awards and "You'll Think of Me" on the American Music Awards. He also performed at the Grammys playing "You'll Think of Me" and "The Lucky One" with Faith Hill. At the 2006 ACM Awards Urban gave two performances when he performed "Tonight I Wanna Cry" and played guitar for Brooks & Dunn's song "Believe."
Personal life
On arriving in Nashville, Tennessee in 1992, Urban quickly fell for veterinary technician Laura Sigler. The pair shared an on-off relationship from 1992, and lived together between 1998 and 2002. Urban paid tribute to Sigler in the sleeve notes to his self-titled first hit album, and dedicated love song "You're The Only One" to Sigler, writing "For Laura" at the bottom of the lyrics. After proposing to Sigler in 2001, the pair broke up in 2002.
In 2002, after his painful breakup with Sigler, Urban met supermodel Niki Taylor, who played his love interest in his music video for "Somebody Like You." Taylor had told her hair/makeup person, Debra Wingo, that she might be interested in being in a country music video. Wingo also does hair/makeup for Urban, and she mentioned that he was getting ready to do a video. Urban and Taylor dated on and off for three years until their split was officially announced July 2005.
Urban met actress Nicole Kidman at an event in Hollywood in January of 2005. In May of 2006, Urban and Kidman announced their engagement, and their plans to wed in Australia. They got married in Australia on 25 June 2006 at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly, Sydney.
Winning
Keith Urban Lyrics
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When I needed a hand
And it couldnt be found
I was so far down
That I couldnt get up, you know
One day I was one of lifes losers
Even my friends were my accusers
And in my head I was lost before I began
But it turned to dust
And what I thought was love
That must have been lust
I was living in style
When the walls fell in
When I played my hand
I looked like a joker
Turn around
Fate must have woke her
Cause lady luck she was
Waiting outside the door
(Chorus)
Im winning, Im winning
Im winning, oh yeah
Im winning
And Im winning
Too bad it belonged to me
It was the wrong time
And not meant to be
It took a long time
But I knew for now
I can see the day
That I believe for
Friends agree theres a need
To play the game
And to win again, let me tell ya now
Repeat Chorus
Now I had a dream
But it turned to dust
And what I thought was love
That must have been lust
I was living in style
When the walls fell in
When I played my hand
I looked like a joker
Turn around
Fate must have woke her
Cause lady luck she was
Waiting outside the door
Yes she was how, hey
Repeat Chorus twice
The lyrics to Keith Urban's song "Winning" speak to the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity. The singer of the song starts out by describing a time when he was down on his luck and couldn't seem to catch a break. He felt like a failure, even to his friends. He had dreams that never came to fruition, and he was living in a state of disillusionment. Despite all this, however, he somehow managed to turn his life around. In the end, he is "winning" and everything is going his way.
The verse that reads "One day I was one of life's losers, even my friends were my accusers" is particularly poignant because it speaks to the feeling of isolation and despair that often comes with failure. When we fail, we often feel like we are completely alone in the world, even if we have family and friends who are trying to support us. It's easy to feel like a burden on those around us when we're struggling, and even easier to feel like we're letting them down.
The chorus of the song, which repeats the phrase "I'm winning" several times, is a powerful mantra that can be helpful to remember when we're feeling down. It reminds us that no matter how bad things seem in the moment, they can always get better. It's a message of hope that encourages us to keep going, even when we feel like giving up.
Line by Line Meaning
One day I was on the ground
Once upon a time, I was in a difficult situation.
When I needed a hand
When I needed help.
And it couldn't be found
But no one was able to help me.
I was so far down
I was very depressed.
That I couldn't get up, you know
And I didn't even have the energy or willpower to improve my situation.
One day I was one of life's losers
I felt like a failure.
Even my friends were my accusers
Even my friends criticized me.
And in my head I was lost before I began
I didn't have any confidence or faith in myself to succeed.
I had a dream
I had a goal or vision for my life.
But it turned to dust
But it didn't work out.
And what I thought was love
And I realized that what I thought was love, was really just lust.
That must have been lust
That my feelings weren't as deep as I thought.
I was living in style
I was living a comfortable, luxurious life.
When the walls fell in
But then something unexpected happened to take it all away.
When I played my hand
When I took a risk or made a move.
I looked like a joker
But it didn't work out and I looked foolish.
Turn around
However, things started to improve.
Fate must have woke her
I believe that destiny or luck played a role in my success.
Cause lady luck she was
And luck was on my side.
Waiting outside the door
Opportunities were there for me to take advantage of.
I'm winning, I'm winning, I'm winning, oh yeah, I'm winning
Now, I am successful and things are going well for me.
Too bad it belonged to me
But I regret that I didn't achieve this success sooner.
It was the wrong time
It took longer than I had hoped for.
And not meant to be
But I believe that it was always part of my destiny.
It took a long time
It was a slow and difficult journey.
But I knew for now
But I believed that it would all work out eventually.
I can see the day
And I had faith in the future.
That I believe for
I had hope for what I could achieve in the future.
Friends agree there's a need to play the game
My friends recognized that in order to succeed in life, you have to take risks and work hard.
And to win again, let me tell ya now
And they encouraged me to keep striving for success.
Writer(s): Russell Glyn Ballard Copyright: Russell Ballard Ltd.
Contributed by Tristan T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.