The marriage of Keith Urban and wife Nicole Kidman to many was the image of a perfect Hollywood couple – but just four months after they tied the knot, the couple’s relationship was rocked by a fight. The male singer’s devastating drug and alcohol abuse forced him to intervene to help him stay sober.
While the couple has enjoyed nearly 18 years of marital bliss, Urban’s past battles with drugs and alcohol almost drove them apart as he previously admitted he was a “real alcoholic”. “.
Grateful to my wife for helping me quit my addiction in time
Urban – now the father of two daughters, Sunday (15 years old) and Faith (13 years old) – once said that he grew up witnessing his father’s heavy drinking. And it took him “a long time to get sober” because he didn’t realize his alcoholism.
“Getting married for the right reasons and quitting alcohol 15 years ago were both huge turning points in my life” – Keith Urban shared
“I don’t drink like my dad so I compare everything to him. But I was finally able to make the right choices in my life, something I wish my dad had (Robert Urban, who passed away in 2015) will do the same” – Keith recalled in a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone.
Despite his history of substance abuse, Urban recently compared listening to Ariana Grande’s catchy new single We Can’t Be Friends to being as addictive as heroin.
While most people found the comparison humorous, the joke upset Urban’s 56-year-old wife because it “brought back a dark time when they almost broke up because of Urban’s addiction.” “.
A source close to the matter told Woman’s Day magazine: “Nicole would never ask Urban to take down a post but she is very disappointed.
The source added that the couple “have been through hell because of Keith Urban’s addiction”.
Urban has publicly battled drug and alcohol addiction and has been to rehab multiple times, his last being at the Betty Ford Center in October 2006, just months after marrying Kidman.
The country singer recalled the moment his wife intervened to address his addiction problem, in an excerpt from Jeff Apter’s book Keith Urban.
He told Rolling Stone magazine in 2016 that he would understand if Nicole chose to leave him after her 2006 rehab stint because the couple only got married that year.
“I was very, very lucky that Nic called me to intervene,” Keith said, adding that his reckless behavior “caused my new marriage to fall apart.”
Urban also reflected on Oprah Winfrey’s intervention, admitting to the famous talk show host that he had “gone off track” and “needed help and a new direction” in his life.
Nicole Kidman, who was working in Rome at the time, flew back to the US and gathered her friends for an intervention.
“The love in that room at that moment was just right to see love work that way… I had never experienced anything like that before,” Keith told Oprah.
When speaking about Kidman’s decision to stay with him during his third stint in rehab in eight years, Urban said, “I’m glad she decided to come back and start this intervention.”
At the time, Urban released a statement that read: “I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and those who love and support me. One never has It’s possible to let your guard down during recovery, and I’m afraid I did.”
Meanwhile, Nicole Kidman told Vanity Fair in 2007, around that time, that they “were in a very, very, very bad, painful place” and “got through it together.”
In 2018, Urban opened up about his past struggles with alcoholism and revealed at the South By Southwest conference in Texas that he wished he had gotten sober earlier in his life.
Keith also admitted that he was “attracted to relationships” before meeting Kidman and that his lyrics about love were far from his reality.
“I write songs about love and relationships. I remember writing Somebody Like You and playing it for my girlfriend at the time, and she just looked at me and said, ‘You’re a thief. Damn hypocrisy’ and I can’t argue with that” – Urban said.
Each “spent” hundreds of thousands of dollars on drugs
Urban and Nicole met in 2005 and got married a year later. Urban previously told Rolling Stone that he first smoked cocaine in the 1990s after being offered it by a roommate.
Urban’s former songwriting partner, Vernon Rust, alleges in his book Fake News that they snorted $320,000 of cocaine together during an “epic rave” in the late 1990s.
Keith Urban grew up watching his father drink heavily and didn’t ‘realize’ his alcoholism
According to New Idea, Rust also claimed he and Keith Urban spent “more than $250,000 on cocaine” during the recording of their 1997 album.
And then, when he regained sobriety, Urban wrote about his addiction journey in many songs, including Thank You (2009).
The lyrics dedicated to Kidman read: “And I thank my heart/ I thank you for my life/ And I thank God for grace and mercy/ And you became my wife “.
When appearing on Living & Learning with Reba McEntire in December 2021, Urban said “marrying the right person is extremely important to him.
“Getting married for the right reasons and quitting alcohol 15 years ago – both were huge turning points in my life” – Urban said.
And then Urban told the Sunday Times, in 2022, that he had to “find another way to fit into the world” after getting sober.
“I’m glad it didn’t change anything about my music. I wrote a lot of hit songs while drunk. I feel lucky that it didn’t define my creativity.” .
Now I want to be a “good example” for my daughters
Urban now pledges to be a “good role model'” for his daughters.
“I still don’t know if I did it right. … I made a lot of mistakes, but you have to find what works for you.
My message to my children is to always do whatever you’re passionate about, I don’t care, as long as you work hard to achieve your passion” – Urban told The Sun in 2022 .
In November 2022, Urban joked that if he hadn’t pursued music, “he’d probably be in jail.”
During his career Urban has recorded 12 albums, has won 4 Grammy Awards, 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, 13 CMA (Country Music Association) Awards and even earned a Golden Globe nomination for song For You in 2012.
