Keith Urban is opening up about his experience with alcoholism.
In an interview with the Times, the country music star shared his feelings about getting sober, and how his wife Nicole Kidman and his family inspired him to stop drinking.
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“I don’t talk a lot about it because I love my audience being able to just come and have a great time,” Urban said. “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.’”
The musician also opened up about his own family history with alcoholism and how that affected him.
“My dad was an alcoholic, so I grew up in an alcoholic house, and it took me a long time to believe I was wired the same.”
Explaining that his family became the catalyst to get sober, Urban said, “I had to find a different way to be in the world. I’m glad it didn’t change anything about my music. I wrote plenty of hit songs while drunk. I wrote plenty sober. I feel lucky it hasn’t defined my creativity.”
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Urban first checked himself into rehab in 1998, and then again in 2006, only months after getting married to Kidman.
His wife also served as the inspiration for the lyrics to the song “Thank You” from his 2009 album Defying Gravity.
“I thank you for my heart, I thank you for my life/ And I thank God for grace and mercy / And that you became my wife,” he sings on the track.
