Keith Urban Recalls Surprising Moment He Found out Eric Church Wrote 'We Were'

Keith Urban's latest single, "We Were," was co-written by Eric Church, which Urban previously revealed he didn't know until after he recorded the song. But now the Aussie is opening up about the moment he found out Church co-wrote the tune, revealing how far along in the process he was before he discovered Church's identity.

"I had no idea Eric was a writer on it when we went in and recorded it," Urban said, via radio station Kicks 99 Country. "We actually recorded it last December before Christmas. And then I just lived with it for a while, tinkering little bits and pieces over the next handful of months until we finished it out.

"It wasn't until I was doing label copy and needed to make sure I had all the lyrics right and asked for a copy of their lyrics, and that's the first time I saw the writers on the song," he added.

When Urban saw Church's name, along with Jeff Hyde and Ryan Tyndell, he immediately sent Church a text, asking if it was indeed him on the song.

"He texted back, 'We Were...' Is that about something about a water town and something?' 'cause he wrote so many songs," Urban recalled. "I said, 'Yeah.' He texted back 'Why?' and I was like, 'I just recorded it' and he's like 'What?' I said. 'Yeah I really didn't know that you were a writer on it,' and he said, 'Well that's the best news ever 'cause that means you really like the song.'"

Urban previously opened up about the song, insisting he was as surprised as anyone that Church was a co-writer on his current single.

"I didn't know he was a writer, which was really cool, because it wasn't until we recorded the song, it was all done, and I found out after the fact," Urban said on The Bobby Bones Show on iHeartRadio. "I found out and I called Eric, and I was like, 'Dude, I just cut this song.' He was thrilled. I said, 'I had no idea that you were a writer on it.' He said, 'Well that's even better, because it means you really loved the song.' I do. I really love the song."

"We Were" is from an upcoming new album, the follow-up to his successful Graffiti U record, released last year. Download "We Were" on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Getty Images / Dave J Hogan