Keith Urban received a sad announcement last week when he learned that his father only has a few weeks to live.
During his speech at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Urban was teary-eyed. The Museum's rotunda was full of people who were close to the artist including Steven Tyler, Mike Dungan, and his wife, Nicole Kidman.
Looking back, Keith said his father was a big influence on his life.
"He's probably only got a few weeks, if that," Urban said. "I've just been dealing with that the last couple of days. This has all come at a very strange time where it's typical of a career that has extreme highs and extreme lows all often at the exact same time. So (the exhibit) is bittersweet a little bit because (my dad) is the catalyst for all of this. My dad is the catalyst for me living in America."
According to The Tennessean, Urban's father supported him during the early stages of his career. Urban's dad was the one who sewed him his clothes and was the one who introduced him to country music.
"My dad particularly always thought it was important that I dressed like a performer," the singer said. "A lot of these country music talent quests I did in Australia, they often had categories for best-dressed male or best-dressed female and I often won. Sometimes it was the only thing I won."
The museum also featured Urban's father's record collection. He recalled the moment they were buying Don William's album in Australia. His dad said he did not know any single in the album. Urban then responded, "How do you know it's going to be good?"
"It's Don Williams," his father concluded.
This was one of the turning points of his life. He also acknowledged his wife, Nicole Kidman, as another big turning point.
According to DNA, Kidman has helped him recover from drug addiction. Urban explained that he struggled with success before and that he needed an intervention. In 2006, after the two got married, he was sent to rehab.
"In so many ways, it was the most powerful act of love in reaching into the fire and pulling me out, because she believed in me, and she saw something in me in such a way that she risked everything, everything, to trust me and pull me out of the fire, and let me then do the right thing and move into the light," he said about Kidman.
