The country musician tells PEOPLE that Taylor Swift is “absolutely at the top of her game”

 

 

 

Keith Urban Praises Taylor Swift

PHOTO: GETTY (2)

 

Keith Urban is a Swiftie!

 

 

In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE about returning to American Idol for the show’s season 21 finale on Sunday, the country musician, 55, also chats about attending Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour last weekend with his wife, Nicole Kidman.

 

 

“We had the best time,” Urban says. “It’s an amazing show. I knew it would be, but it’s a whole other level. I mean, she’s absolutely at the top of her game. This tour is just the best of the best.”

 

 

“The Fighter” musician documented his time attending the tour at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, where he sat in the VIP section of the crowd, in a TikTok video.

In the clip, Urban and Kidman, 55, can be seen rocking out to 1989‘s “Style” and the beginning of “Blank Space.” He captioned the post, “We love ya @TaylorSwift.”

 

 

 

Swift, 33, kicked off her highly anticipated Eras Tour in Glendale, Arizona, last month. The event is scheduled to run through Aug. 9, when the final performance will take place at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

 

 

During the show, which runs for three hours and 13 minutes, the singer captivates her audience with a massive, career-spanning 44-song set list that includes nods to each of her respective album eras, including her latest LP, Midnights.

 

 

 

 

Swift also doesn’t just throw things back with her set list or stories on stage, either, as her performance attire also nods back to previous eras. Lover sees Swift rock a Versace bodysuit and blazer, a stunning Roberto Cavalli dress as a nod to Fearless, a Nicole + Felicia gown for Speak Now, an Alberta Ferretti dress for Folklore and a Cavalli top and skirt for 1989, to name a few.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - MAY 12: EDITORIAL USE ONLY, Taylor Swift performs onstage during the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at Lincoln Financial Field on May 12, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lisa Lake/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS)

Taylor Swift. LISA LAKE/TAS23/GETTY FOR TAS

 

Among many of the songs performed are new “Taylor’s Version” tracks, which are updated iterations of songs that Swift has re-recorded after Scooter Braun bought her former record label Big Machine in a move that saw him take control of the masters for Swift’s first six albums. (Braun, 41, later sold the masters for $300 million to Shamrock Holdings in November 2020.)

 

 

Urban — who appears on a “From The Vault” track part of Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) album, titled “That’s When,” praised the artist for her decision to re-record her LPs, telling PEOPLE, “It’s amazing.”

 

 

 

“I mean, look, she’s not the first artist that’s rerecorded old songs, but she’s done it in such a way where she’s been able to get her fans to get on board with these versions. All the fans know why she’s done it, and more power to her as far as taking artistic control,” he adds.

 

 

 

 

For his part, Urban is excited to lend his talents as a mentor and performer during Sunday evening’s Idol finale, and he is also gearing up for a return to Las Vegas for a set of shows part of his residency at the Zappos Theater located in the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

When asked if there is any difference between the crowds that attend his Vegas shows and those who come to see him when he is touring across the globe, Urban admits, “It doesn’t feel any different to any gig I’ve ever done.”

 

 

“I came up playing in the clubs and bars as a teenager, where nobody gave a crap that you were on stage, and if anything, you were kind of almost annoying that you were up there,” he continues. “So walking out to people that you have to get going is kind of how I’m wired.”

He adds, “And even with that Vegas audience, who’ve all bought tickets to come in and be a part of this, I still come out swinging, thinking, like, I’m back in the clubs, and we got to get this room on fire.”

As for new  music, Urban teases that is on the horizon too. “[There will] definitely be new  music this year,” he says. “A new album will come either late this year or early next year. That’s my guess.”