A global pandemic forcing you to empty your tour calendar and stay off the road for the summer months and then some isn’t all bad, Keith Urban has discovered.
The country superstar and his family recently made a temporary move to their home country of Australia during the novel coronavirus pandemic, and while their reasons for doing so are rooted in work, there’s a “silver lining” to it, too, the artist says.
Urban, his wife Nicole Kidman and their daughters, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret, are Down Under so actor Kidman can shoot a movie — but they also happen to be in the same area of the country as much of Kidman’s family.
“Nic’s family’s here — her mom and sister and [her sister’s] husband and kids,” Urban says via video chat. “So, nice to have family. We don’t have any of that in Nashville.”
In early August, after arriving in Australia and completing a mandated quarantine, Kidman shared a photo of herself hugging her 80-year-old mother, Janelle, when the pair reunited for the first time in eight months. Kidman revealed at the time that she had missed her mom’s 80th birthday due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions. Urban’s mom is in Australia, too, but he’s currently unable to see her due to travel restrictions. “She lives in another state here,” he explains, “and they have the borders closed.”
Although Urban has been enjoying his time with family, he’ll be back in the United States for next Wednesday’s (Sept. 16) 2020 ACM Awards ceremony. He’ll be hosting the event for the first time this year; the show, rescheduled from April, is taking place from three locations in Nashville — the Ryman Auditorium, the Bluebird Cafe and the Grand Ole Opry House, where Urban will be — rather than in Las Vegas, due to the pandemic.
Two days later, on Sept. 18, Urban will release a brand-new album, The Speed of Now Part 1. The 16-track project features collaborations with rising country-rapper Breland, pop star Pink, Chic guitarist Nile Rogers and fellow country star Eric Church.
