Keith Urban: CMA Fest Always Comes At The ‘Right Time’
Keith Urban performs at CMA Fest’s Nissan stadium almost every year, rarely missing an opportunity to play for fans gathered in Nashville each year. This year, he takes the big stage on Saturday night (6/9), the same night as his new friends, Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll.
Keith told us backstage at last year’s CMA Fest how the festival manages to come to people at the right time in their lives each year. He told us, “The good thing about CMA Fest is it historically always comes at a time when it feels like we need it the most.”
He continued, “When we were here back in 2010 after the Nashville floods and doing a special performance, I think CMA Fest was really acknowledging what everybody had gone through and the floods, and so I think it’s such a community spirit out there, not just Nashville, but the country community coming together and celebrating life and the moment. We always need it, though.”
Urban also talked about the pure fun and spirit of the 51-year-old festival. “I love it! It’s like summer camp. I mean, it is! It’s a chance to obviously see a lot of people I don’t normally see. I don’t know. It’s just palpable. Since Fan Fair, it’s just been that sort of week-plus of energy; the town just explodes, and what it is we love about this genre and the community aspect of it. I always love it.”
RELATED: Celebrities React As Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini Rep Country Music At The Met Gala
Urban’s hot new duet with Lainey Wilson, “Go Home With You,” was released earlier last month (5/3). He joined Lainey over the weekend to perform the song live at her show in Nashville.
He continued, “I wrote ‘Go Home With You’ in 2020 with BRELAND, Sam (Sumser) and Sean (Small). We had a blast writing it. It started out as a late-night drum loop; I grabbed a bass guitar and started playing a simple recurring bass line. Before we knew it, we were writing a chorus that could be sung by any drunk person in any bar anywhere in the world.”
Urban added, “A friend of mine suggested the idea of making the song a duet, and I immediately thought of Lainey. Besides the fact that I love her voice, she’s got the swagger and attitude that fit so well with the song.”
Wilson said, “Keith has been someone in the industry I’ve taken notes from for a while now. From watching him at CMA Fest every year growing up to hearing the way he treats people up and down music row, he has taught me a lot. He’s a genuine supporter of mine, and I am honored I get to continue to learn from one of the best. Getting to do a song with Keith is a notch on my belt I am very proud of.”
“Go Home With You” follows the release of Urban’s current single, “Messed Up As Me,” and the song “Straight Line,” which was released earlier this year.
Five Country Superstars Who Do Not Drink
Brad Paisley: Never Drank
Nathan Howard/Getty Images
Even though he scored a big hit in 2009 with a song called “Alcohol,” it’s a little-known fact that Brad has never been a drinker. Even though he can mix you a drink in his Nashville “Yellow House,” which he uses for making music, he has never touched the stuff.
Charles Kelley - Sober since 2022
Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Lady A postponed their tour in 2022 for bandmate Charles Kelley to have a “journey to sobriety.” Since then, Kelley co-wrote and recorded a solo song about his journey called “As Far As I Could.” The lyrics sing in part, “You gave me the courage the night I met my wife / You helped me make her laugh ’til you helped me make her cry / You started out a friend turned into somethin’ else / Now I like who I am with you sittin’ on the shelf.”
Shania Twain: Doesn't Drink While Working
Vivien Killilea/Getty Images
Shania told Entertainment Weekly in 2002 that she doesn’t drink simply because she has never been “interested” in alcohol. She said at the time, “I’ve never had a drinking problem and never drank when I worked.”
Tim McGraw: Sober Since 2013
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
In 2013, he told People, “I don’t drink at all. It’s not a part of my life anymore.” Tim told Esquire in 2021, “I remember a moment when I was getting out of bed and going to the liquor cabinet and taking a big shot at eight in the morning and thinking, I have to wake the kids up.”
Keith Urban: Sober Since 2006
Jason Davis/Getty Images
Keith, who went to rehab shortly after he married Nicole Kidman in 2006, told the U.K. Times in April 2022, “I’ve nothing against drugs or alcohol. Everyone does what they want to do to have a great time. I just realized I’m allergic to it. Someone said, ‘You have an allergy? What happens when you drink?’ And I said, ‘I break out in cuffs.'”
