Keith Urban Became A ‘Better Man’ From His Marriage To Nicole Kidman

Mar 08, 2023

Nicole Kidman is an American-born Australian actress who has received many accolades throughout her inspiring career. She has received six Golden Globe awards, two Primetime Emmys and an Academy Award from several nominations. In 2006, 2018 and 2019, Kidman was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. In 2020, Kidman was deemed one of the top five greatest actors of the 21st century by The New York Times.

She began her career in 1983 and is best known for her roles in the films “Eyes Wide Shut,” “The Hours,” which earned her the Academy Award for best actress, and “Moulin Rouge!” She is also an accomplished television star, with her most successful role being in “Big Little Lies.” The series earned her two Emmy awards, one for her acting and another for being an executive producer. 

Kidman has been married to country singer Keith Urban since 2006. The couple met at G'Day LA, which is an event to honor Australians living in Los Angeles. Their relationship began a few years after Kidman finalized her divorce from her ex-husband, Tom Cruise. Kidman and Urban were married in Sydney, Australia, where they currently reside. They also have homes in Los Angeles, New York City and Nashville, Tennessee. 

Urban released his self-titled debut album in 1991. He moved to the United States the following year and found work as a session guitarist for the band The Ranch. He later signed to Capitol Records and released his first American album in 1999, which was also self-titled. The album became certified platinum in the US and produced Urban’s first No. 1 song on the Billboard Country charts.

Urban has opened up about how his wife’s love and support have been life-changing for him, including helping him kick his addictions, and has made him a better man.

When Urban first met Kidman, he didn't think he stood much of a chance with her. The singer told The Sydney Morning Herald:

"I thought she was way out of my league. Of course. It's not an, 'oh shucks, oh me' story, it's legit — I mean, I'm a kid from Brissie, I went to Nashville ... somewhere along the line I end up meeting Nic.”

Urban continued:

"I might have a wild imagination of possibilities in life, obviously, but not in a million years did I think that somebody like that would be interested in me. At all."

Despite his lack of confidence, Kidman was smitten with him. A mutual friend gave him Kidman’s phone number, but he decided not to call her right away. "Somebody had given me her number and I had it in my pocket for a while. I kept looking at it thinking, 'If I call this number, she's going to answer. I don't know what (to) say'," Urban explained. 

The country artist explained why he held off from pursuing Kidman at first. "I wasn’t in a very healthy place in my life. I’d never have thought she’d see anything in a guy like me. But at some point, I plucked up the courage to call those numbers and she answered, and we started talking and we talked and talked and talked and talked and it was effortless," Urban shared.

Urban spoke about his difficult childhood and said he had an addiction for a long time, but Kidman was the one to help pull him out of it.

"My wife put an intervention together and it was … it was divine. I mean, 'divine intervention', but it's true, it really was," he said. "It was love in action and the timing was absolutely divine."

Urban continued in his interview with The Sydney Morning Herald: 

"It had nothing to do with whether life was good or bad. It had nothing to do with any of that stuff. I was an equal opportunity addict. I'd get high when it was sunny, high when it was raining — it didn't matter. It was something I should have dealt with many, many years before I met Nic, and tried to, but it just never took. I wasn't ready. Simple as that."

Meanwhile, Kidman opened up to Vanity Fair about what brought the couple together in the first place:

"I think we were two lonely people. I would probably say that two very lonely people managed to meet at a time when they could open themselves to each other. We were a mixture of frightened and brave.”

Urban and Kidman typically do whatever they can to keep their relationship out of the public eye. The actress told Vanity Fair about the start of their relationship: "We were very, very quiet about it, and we managed to get through a long period of time without people knowing about us — which is pretty much our style still." In the same interview, Kidman opened up about her husband's sobriety. She said:

"I’ve learned an enormous amount having a relationship with someone who is in recovery ... I’m more than willing to walk it with him. The two of us are very committed to our relationship.”

However, she did not sugarcoat anything, as she called the experience "painful, deeply painful."   

She explained further:

"We were in a very, very, very bad, painful place, and have managed to step through it, and I hope that gives some people some hope who may be in the same place. And that’s enough said. Anything else is overindulgent and unnecessary right now. And I think it jinxes it, in a way, and that’s why I don’t go on about my enormous feelings for this man." 

Before they dealt with Urban's sobriety, the couple had a whirlwind romance in the beginning. Kidman recalled to People magazine: "It was my (38th) birthday, and he stood outside with gardenias at 5 a.m. on my stoop in New York. That is when I went, ‘This is the man I hope I get to marry.'" Kidman continued: 

"It was pretty intense. I believed by that point he was the love of my life. Maybe that’s because I am deeply romantic, or I’m an actress, or I have strong faith as well, but I just believed, ‘Oh, okay, here he is.'" 

Now happily married for 16 years, the couple is incredibly supportive of each other. In September 2021, Urban said to Entertainment Tonight that Kidman’s influence in his life had been, "Life-changing, life-changing, absolutely." With the love and support of his wife, the music star turned his life around and even had his own Las Vegas residency. Urban also shared with ET that he and Kidman love to dine out together in the city when he is not working. The musician returned to Vegas for his residency in September 2021.

The couple has continued to stay strong in their marriage as time has passed. In a 2016 interview with Hits Daily Double, Urban talked about how Kidman has helped him with his music career as well. In fact, Kidman helped him figure out the direction for his song “Stupid Boy.”

The actress also inspired “The Fighter,” Urban’s song with fellow country artist Carrie Underwood. Urban explained:

“A lot of those really simple, tough lines in ‘The Fighter’ are straight from early in my relationship with Nic. I had such a learning curve in our marriage! When she’d get scared, I’d think she was angry; then I’d get defensive, go tearing out the driveway at 90 miles an hour. And that’s when it all gets pear-shaped.”

He continued:

“What she needs, and it’s all in the song, is for me to stay, to be close, to hear her. Get Closer: the album title alone was literally from this new awareness I had with this reality of how to react. When things are tough or upsetting, it’s about pulling her close. That’s what she needs, and I had to learn it.”

The song even ended up being featured in Kidman’s show “Nine Perfect Strangers.” The country music star went on to share more about his powerful connection with his wife. Urban said:

“First and foremost, my marriage with Nic informs everything. Nic is so unbelievably open; she doesn’t keep things in or bottle them up. She’s really a great communicator. Because of her, if I open up, every day, I’m listening and growing and learning. If I’m a better man, it’s because of her.”

We’re happy to see this couple in such a loving, secure place together.

Did you know about Keith Urban's past with addiction? What about Nicole Kidman staging an intervention for her beloved husband? Let us know, and be sure to send this on to your loved ones.