Keith Urban Hits High Notes In Bee Gees' Smash Hit Making Original Artist Well Up

Jun 03, 2021

Country music singer Keith Urban is a legend in his own right. Originally born in New Zealand, but growing up in Caboolture, Australia, Urban has been making waves internationally ever since he landed in Nashville, Tennessee in the early 1990s. Beloved for his music, he's also shown himself to be a kind and generous person who seems to always have a positive attitude, which has made him incredibly popular with his fans.

On top of his stellar music career, Urban is also married to iconic Australian actress Nicole Kidman, making them one of Hollywood's most beloved Australian couples. Often seen supporting each other, the pair is truly a match made in heaven.

In the last year, with live concerts on hold, Urban has been active on social media, where he's thrown virtual concerts to keep himself busy and his fans satisfied, and Kidman has even made a few appearances.

Back in 2017, when live concerts were a normal thing, Urban performed a cover of the Bee Gees' hit song "To Love Somebody" as part of CBS' "Stayin' Alive: A Grammy Salute to the Music of the Bee Gees" show. Not only was the tribute incredibly powerful, but Urban also described a personal moment of his that connected him to the Bee Gees.

What's more, Barry Gibb was in the audience that night, and his reaction to Urban's rendition of the song makes this performance even more moving. Seeing the original Bee Gee in the crowd welling up with tears is sure to be one of the most special moments in Urban's career. Let's take a look at the once-in-a-lifetime moment.

Before he began his tribute to the band, Keith Urban shared with his audience that the Bee Gees, a trio of brothers who rose to fame with their 1977 hit "Stayin' Alive," had always been a huge inspiration to him.

Urban revealed that he actually lived rather close to the Gibb brothers and that made him feel like he had an extra special connection to them. He said that growing up, they lived about 100 miles apart and that it made his dreams seem closer, reports The Sun Daily.

That might not seem like the most significant thing, but when you consider that Redcliffe, Queensland, where the Bee Gees grew up, had 10,000 people living there, while Caboolture, Queensland — Urban's hometown — has a population of 26,000, it makes a lot more sense why Urban felt inspired that if the Bee Gees could make it in the music industry, then so could he.

The Bee Gees' rise to success — going from small-town musicians to international wonders in the industry — is also no small feat. After getting started locally in the surrounding region of Redcliffe, Queensland in Australia, they eventually moved on to tour the rest of the country and relocated to Sydney. By the end of the 1960s, they'd broken through internationally, and needless to say, they became household names one decade later when their disco-inflected songs summed up an entire era. Consisting of three brothers named Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, the Bee Gees had left their mark on the world.

As their music is so iconic, it's still often played today, so it was no surprise that CBS wanted to honor the band with a one-off special.

This is where Urban chose to perform the brothers' hit song "To Love Somebody."

A lot of other artists who were in attendance also performed tribute songs to the Bee Gees that night. These artists included Ed Sheeran, Celine Dion, Demi Lovato, Thomas Rhett, Andra Day and Kelsea Ballerini. But among these many talented artists, Urban certainly stole the show when he performed on that stage. Nowhere was that clearer than in the reaction of Barry Gibb, who was in the audience that night. 

Urban claims that the song "To Love Somebody" is one of the greatest love songs ever made. And when you see Urban's performance of the song, it's easy to see why. "To Love Somebody" was originally written by Barry and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. And the song was released in 1967. This song reached the Top 20 on the U.S. music charts just after its release.  

Urban gushes about the Bee Gees, speaking of his amazement at how they managed to maintain their great quality of songwriting throughout the decades and through the many stylistic changes in music during that time.

He said at the Grammys that their level of song crafting was always extraordinary. It's clear that he admires them, not only in the way that he speaks of them but also in the way that he performs his tribute to their song.  

What do you think of this tribute to the Bee Gees? Pass it on to your friends and loved ones to entertain them as well.