Keith Urban Reveals Wife Nicole Kidman Is Subject of Song’s Lyric ‘Maniac in Bed’

Keith Urban confirmed his wife Nicole Kidman was the inspiration behind the revealing lyrics in his song “Gemini,” in which he refers to the song’s subject as a “maniac in the bed, but a brainiac in her head.”

The song appears on Urban’s latest album, Graffiti U, which was nominated for Album of the Year at the CMA Awards. Co-written with Julia Michaels, Justin Tranter and Ian Kirkpatrick, the song is about a strong-willed woman.

“She’s a maniac in the bed, but a brainiac in her head. And I know that everybody knows. Ooh, that she’s both,” Urban sings.

“The song is actually about Nicole – and she loves it,” Urban told iNews before he performs at the Country to Country Festival at the O2 Arena in London.

“It’s a fun song,” Urban continued. “My co-writer Julia Michaels asked me to describe Nicole and that’s what came out. ‘She is Gemini, but she’s not a contradiction. She can roll with things.’”

This was not the first time Urban opened up about Kidman’s influence on “Gemini.” In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Urban said Kirkpatrick came up with the “groove” and then Urban laid down the guitar.

“The four of us [songwriters] met in the studio and Ian had this cool little groove happening, and I started playing some guitar and he recorded it and then manipulated and cut it up into bits and pieces, then put it back together and created this loop,” Urban explained. “I never had anyone do that to my playing before, and it just created this atmosphere that we started riffing some melody pieces at the top, and then Julia said, ‘Tell me about Nic,’ and I said, ‘Well she’s a Gemini, but she’s not a contradiction.’”

In that EW interview, Urban credited the “maniac in bed” line to Michaels.

“She came up with it after me describing my wife,” she told EW. “My first thought was, ‘I can’t say she’s a brainiac in her head,’ and Julia said, ‘You kind of just did, just sing it.’ And I sang it in total playfulness, just tongue-in-cheek, and it just worked, so we kept it.”

Urban and Kidman, both 51, married in 2006 and have two daughters, Sunday Rose, 10, and Faith Margaret, 8. Kidman also appeared on the album, singing backup vocals on the hit single “Female.”

Last month, Urban teased new music, sharing a photo with his thump pointed up in front of a microphone.

“I feel very blessed that I have the support of my family like I do,” Urban told PopCulture.com. “It’s a beautiful thing having two artists, because we understand the passion and the responsibility of what we get to do. Very important.”

Photo credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images