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In the first and only definitive biography of country music star Keith Urban, insider Jeff Apter chronicles how a skinny, shy high school dropout with an outrageous mullet went from humble origins in Australia to conquering Nashville and global stardom—plus his struggles with addiction, marriage to Nicole Kidman, turns on American Idol, and more.

Four Grammys. Twenty US Number Ones. A Hollywood marriage. Who wouldn’t want to be Keith Urban?

Keith Urban came from humble origins. His father worked at the local landfill and Keith was a high school dropout. But Keith had a plan: conquer Nashville. “It’s my destiny,” he said. And Keith was hell-bent on scaling that musical Everest. Whatever it took.

It didn’t come easy. Keith served his apprenticeship in the beer barns of Australia, and his early trips to America were disastrous. But he never gave up, settling in Nashville in the 1990s and forming The Ranch. When the band fell apart, so did Keith, ending up in rehab (not for the last time). But Keith did eventually reach the top, through a combination of talent, charisma, sex appeal, dogged perseverance—and skin thick enough for a rhino. And along the way he married Nicole Kidman.

As Keith has said, “All those detours, the really dark ones, got me to where I am now. I would not want to change one leaf on any tree in the whole journey.”

Keith Urban is the definitive biography of an international superstar.

About the Author

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Jeff Apter is the author of more than thirty books about music and musicians. His subjects include AC/DC’s Bon Scott and the Young brothers, Daniel Johns of Silverchair, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Cure, Dave Grohl, Jeff Buckley, and many others.As a ghostwriter and co-author, he’s worked with Kasey Chambers, Mark Evans (of AC/DC) and Richard Clapton, and while on staff at Rolling Stone he wrote about legends such as Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith, Robbie Robertson, Bob Dylan, Chrissie Hynde and Lucinda Williams. He lives in the New South Whales South Coast with his wife, two children, and enough pets to fill a small zoo. Visit him online at jeffapter.com.au.

Praise For…

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Praise for Keith Urban by Jeff Apter

“Keith Urban has done just about everything in country music that anyone could ever imagine. This biography by Jeff Apter reveals the highlights and struggles in getting there. I loved looking at the pictures, not just the celebrations that he’s had, but the pictures of his youth really caught my attention. The look in his eyes had the look of destiny. To use one of Keith’s quotes, ‘Nashville’s not my dream. It’s my destiny.’” —Ricky Skaggs, 15-time Grammy Award-winning musician

“Jeff Apter’s Keith Urban had dreamed of Nashville stardom ever since he was a young, guitar-pickin’ boy from a working class home in Australia. It didn’t happen easily or quickly, but came through hard work and tenaciousness. In lively prose, Apter takes us on every happy twist and frustrating turn that Urban faced on his way to the top.” —Elizabeth J. Rosenthal, author of Master of Drums: Gene Krupa and the Music He Gave the World

“He ain’t just that Aussie cowboy with the golden locks and godly good looks who seemingly came out of nowhere in the early 2000s, set the country and pop charts ablaze with his honey-sweet songs, and married a movie star. No, ma’am. There’s more than that to Keith Urban—much more. From his humble beginnings in blue-collar Brisbane to crooning for swooning swarms in rhinestone-studded Nashville, overcoming addiction, and filling stadiums and tabloid covers around the world, Urban has ridden a long, rocky road to the top, a road full of breathtaking highs, heartbreaking lows, and everything in between. Jeff Apter’s long-awaited biography of this beloved modern troubadour is a riveting read that no music fan will want to miss.” —Peter Aaron, author of The Band FAQ and coauthor of Richie Ramone’s autobiography, I Know Better Now: My Life Before, During and After the Ramones

“Jeff Apter’s perceptive biography is an ideal homage to one of our era’s most seminal country musicians. It tells a tale much like the wild and free genre of country music, and the land down under that Keith Urban came from: natural and raw, full of true spirit, and steeped in authenticity.” —Jude Warne, author of America, the Band: An Authorized Biography and Boz Scaggs

“A detailed chronicle of the multi-decade, winding path that has made Keith Urban a Nashville superstar and household name . . . veritable who’s who of Australian and international Country music names, specifying those who contributed and collaborated with Keith to ensure his dream was made reality.” —GLAM Adelaide