Keith Urban seemed stunned Wednesday night as he won Entertainer of the Year at the CMA Awards for the first time in nearly 15 years.
The country crooner took the stage to accept the prestigious award (that he’s nominated for nearly every year) with tears in his eyes, while wife Nicole Kidman beamed from the audience.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“Thank you so much,” Urban said in his acceptance speech. “Baby girl, I love you so much. I am shocked.”
He thanked his and Kidman’s two children, Faith, 7, and Sunday, 10. “Thank you for supporting me and loving me through all that I do,” he said to his kids at home. “Thank you for supporting Daddy. You make it all worthwhile.”
He also thanked his fans, country music radio, his team behind the scenes, and his late father, who died of cancer in 2015. “I wish my dad was alive to see this but I think he’s watching over me tonight,” Urban said. “I am very grateful that I get to do what I do.”
“Everybody who voted for this, thank you so much,” he said. “God bless country music. God bless you all.”
The rocker beat out fellow country music artists Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton and Kenny Chesney for the award.
In addition to Entertainer of the Year, Urban was also nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year, which went to Stapleton, and Album of the Year (Graffiti U), which went to Kacey Musgraves (Golden Hour).
Earlier in the night, the 51-year-old performed his song “Never Comin’ Down.”
Urban and Kidman, also 51, are well known for their longstanding marriage and support of each other. She even accompanies her husband on some of his tracks, like his 2017 song “Female,” which was written by Nicolle Galyon, Shane McAnally and Ross Copperman. He explained to Universal Music Group Nashville in October what inspired him to ask Kidman to sing on the track.
“Well, Nicolle Galyon, who’s one of the writers on the song, she did the part originally and you hear her on the record,” Urban said, noting that when he heard the demo, he immediately knew Galyon had to be on the finished track.
“But when I was working at my studio at the house, Nic was home … my Nic was home, and I went upstairs and said ‘Would you come down and sing these parts as well? ‘Cause it’d be great to have on this record. Of all songs this is the right one to have you on,’” he continued. “So, she came down and sang along with Nicolle Galyon. So, there’s Nic and Nic on the track”
“Female” tackles topics country music typically shies away from, like gender roles, victim shaming and the power of women.
“It just hit me, as a father of young girls; my girls are around seven and nine years old. As a father and also a husband, I recorded it for my wife as well as my daughters, and also for my mom and for all the women in my life,” Urban told The Boot.
“The thing about that song is that it was so much more than what it very quickly got labeled as,” the 50-year-old added. “It was a bigger, broader, more all-encompassing prayer of a song. Yes, it dealt with sexual harassment, and that is specific to two lines in the second verse. Yes, that part of the song addresses that. But the rest of the song is a prayer. It’s a song of hope, and of what we want for our girls and for all women. It was so important for me to have that message out there, and that’s why I wanted to record the song.”
