Keith Urban may be a big-time country music star, but that doesn’t always mean he takes part in living in a world of luxury. In fact, the award-winning artist still doesn’t allow other folks to chauffeur him around.
During a recent episode of Country Countdown USA, Urban served as the co-host alongside Lon Helton, where he opened up about driving himself to his own gigs. The 57-year-old guitar-slinger had good reason for carting himself around, as he revealed that getting behind the wheel without anyone in his space helps him unwind.
“I drive,” he said when asked what he does to unwind. “I drove to the gig the other night, and someone asked [me], ‘How come you drive yourself?’ I said, ‘I always drive myself.’”
“Somebody driving me is like somebody playing my guitar,” Urban, who is married to actress Nicole Kidman, 58, added. “I’d rather be doing it.”
Keith Urban Is On His High & Alive World Tour
For the majority of the month, Urban is overseas playing shows as part of his headlining High & Alive World Tour, which returns stateside on Sept. 25 with its first performance at the United Center in Chicago. Urban spent August in his native Australia, and talked about rearranging his tour set list to accommodate the fans he has in different countries.
“We made a couple of song tweaks for Australia, songs that were released here that weren’t in the US, and some local covers,” he explained. “I’ll do the same thing in Canada. I usually think of them as I’m driving to the gig.”
Keith Urban Says He Agonizes Over the Songs He Puts in His Set List
“It’s a lot of trial and error with set lists for me. I agonize over set lists,” Urban admitted. “It’s like a Rubik’s Cube. I spend months and months over set lists, tweaking, coming back to it every couple of days, looking at it. I put a playlist together and I listen to the songs back-to-back-to-back and just feel the flow from one song into the next – energy-wise, thematically, the key, tempo, everything.”
“Does this feel like it should flow out of that? Is the audience gonna be exhausted right about here? This would be a good time for a ballad. This would be a good time to strip it down to an acoustic song,” he continued. “And then BOOM right back out of the gate again and trying to imagine what the live experience is gonna be and put a setlist together for it…..”
The Country Superstar Got Emotional During His Brisbane Tour Stop
One of the stops on the Australian leg of his tour included a three-show stint in Brisbane, which served as a full-circle moment for Urban, who admittedly got emotional during the run.
“Three nights in Brizzy,” Urban captioned a video on Instagram of his time in Brisbane.
“I have a lot of history there. So many things about what I do, I learned by watching bands play there,” Urban shared of the reason he got choked up about those shows. “It was a great training ground to be in the audience there.”
Fellow country artist Chase Matthews has been the opening act for the trek, and Urban has nothing but praise to share about his tour mate.
“He comes out with a take-no-prisoners attitude,” Urban applauded Matthews. “Two songs in, he has everybody on their feet. Same thing in Australia. He’s got something. He’s a motivational speaker and an entertainer.”
Urban’s High & Alive World Tour runs through Oct. 17, where it will wrap in Nashville, Tenn., at the Bridgestone Arena.
Related: Jason Aldean Talks the Inevitable Surgery He Will Have To Get: ‘It Hasn’t Happened Yet’
This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 6, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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