Keith Urban’s powerful and deeply felt follow-up to 2002’s triple-platinum Golden Road -- his heart and soul as a musician comes through loud and clear and his music has made an impact in every country where it has been released. Performing for sold-out audiences around the world, he’s sold more than 8 million records worldwide and has celebrated multi-platinum success in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. His recent accolades, including 2005 CMA Entertainer of the Year and Best Male Vocalist of the Year, as well as the 2006 Grammy Award for "Best Male Country Vocal Performance” for “You’ll Think of Me,” establishes Urban as one of the industry’s most electrifying live performers and gifted songwriters.

Be Here, co-produced by Dann Huff and Urban himself, is now certified double-platinum after going platinum in just 6 weeks, following his debut at #1 on Billboard’s Country Album Chart and #3 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart. The album was also named Album of the Year at the 2005 Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMs), and was named Best Country Album at Australia’s ARIA Awards. The songs on the album come from the perspective of a man who’s lived a little, loved a little and battled a couple of demons along the way. There are songs here for the good times, such as “You’re My Better Half,” “Making Memories of Us” and “God’s Been Good To Me.” And there are songs that speak to life’s darker patches, like his current single, “Tonight I Wanna Cry,” “The Hard Way” and “Nobody Drinks Alone.” “Better Life” was his 7th #1 single, and remained in that coveted spot for six weeks, making it his second longest running #1 single.

From the driving opening track “Days Go By,” the album’s first #1 single and Urban’s 5th consecutive #1, to the graceful reprise of “These Are The Days,” Be Here offers the sound of a gifted singer-songwriter and world-class performer embracing life and savoring the chance to play another day. As the 2005 CMA Entertainer of the Year, Urban is known as an electrifying, uniquely dynamic live performer that keeps his audiences on their feet from the opening note to the final encore.

Keith Urban grew up loving country music in another country -- Australia.

“We moved around a lot in the city of Brisbane when I was very young,” Urban remembers. “Then my dad decided it was time to get back to his rural upbringing. He bought a property in a place called Caboolture, a farming town about an hour north of Brisbane. We moved up

there and lived on this 12-acre farm. We had our own cows for milking – well, one cow, singular, to tell the truth. He wanted our family to be self-sufficient from the land.”

From the start, Urban took to his parents’ country records collection -- Don Williams, Glen Campbell, and Charley Pride, among others. And before long, young Keith was playing along. By age seven, Urban was already thinking about coming to America and making his mark in Nashville, Tennessee. “I inherited this kind of love for the American dream,” Urban explains. “I fell in love with the music, the cars and the whole idea of America.”

At eight, Urban started winning country music talent shows. By twelve, he was booking his band in local clubs, and at fifteen, quit school and hit the road. In 1990, Urban signed with EMI in Australia and recorded his first solo album, which charted four No. 1 country hits over there. Finally, Urban decided the time had come to move to Nashville in 1992.

Once in Music City, Urban made some industry buzz with a three-piece group called The Ranch. But after releasing one album in 1997, Urban was ready to leave The Ranch and move on as a solo artist.

In 2000, Keith Urban, his self-titled debut in the United States, became a real breakthrough effort that established Urban as one of country’s brightest talents. The album, co-produced by Matt Rollins and Keith Urban, featured three Top 5 hits, including the No. 1 hit "But For The Grace of God". In the wake of that tremendous success, Urban won the Country Music Association's prestigious Horizon Award in 2001, as well as the Top New Male Vocalist Award at the 2001 Academy of Country Music Awards. As if that wasn’t enough, his highflying instrumental performance on “Rollercoaster” was nominated for a Grammy Award, and all of this in the midst of two years of non-stop touring.

When it was released in 2002, Golden Road became another great leap forward. The album went Goldâ in eight weeks and spawned a wildly impressive run of hits including “Somebody Like You,” “Raining On Sunday,” “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me” and “You’ll Think of Me.” “Somebody Like You” spent eight consecutive weeks at the top of the charts, remaining at #1 longer than any other country artist in 2002. “You’ll Think Of Me,” released in December 2003, hit #1 on the Country Singles Chart in the spring of 2004. It has celebrated an astonishing run, as its remained on or near The Top 10 of both the Adult Contemporary or The Hot AC Chart nearly 2 years after the song’s initial release. Golden Road has now gone at least platinum in every country where it’s been released and is now triple platinum in the United States. Keith’s music is everywhere.

On Be Here, Urban delivers more than ever before. While the songs sound as accessible as ever, Be Here is Urban’s most personal and deeply felt work to date. This is music for living life in the present tense. “If there was a theme to this album, it would be the big questions I ask just like anybody else: What are we doing here? What’s life about?” says Urban. “These days, I think more about the brevity of our time here. So it seems to me that making the most of every day is really crucial.”

In 2005, Urban set out on his critically acclaimed “ALIVE IN ‘05” world headline tour – which included dates in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe. He also doubled his attendance numbers with his captivating performance, resulting in sold-out shows worldwide. In addition, Urban’s concert DVD Livin' Right Now was released in 2005 and went platinum internationally.

With Be Here, Urban has made the most ambitious and heartfelt music of his career to date – a song cycle that reflects Urban’s great musical range and personal point of view as never before. But like all great music, in the end, ultimately it’s all about expression and communication for him.

“We want our music to connect with as many people as possible,” Urban explains finally. “That’s what it’s about for me – giving all I’ve got to lift spirits and raise the roof.” (read less)

Keith Urban’s powerful and deeply felt follow-up to 2002’s triple-platinum Golden Road -- his heart and soul as a musician comes through loud and clear and his music has made an impact in every country where it has been released. Performing for sold-out audiences around the world, he’s sold more than 8 million records worldwide and has celebrated multi-platinum success in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. His recent accolades, including 2005 CMA Entertainer of the Year and Best Male Vocali... (read more)