Keith Urban Never Gave Up on Music Despite the Odds — Here’s Why
Keith Urban's longtime fans know that the singer hit many a rough patch along the way to where he is today. Urban has been open about his struggles with drugs and alcohol, and the crippling insecurities that dogged him in his personal life. The singer says that he kept going, even through the darkest moments of his career, because he had no other options.
"I didn't have any choice. I didn't really have a backup plan," Urban explains to The Boot and other outlets, adding that every time he was just about ready to give up, some small victory emerged, and it was just enough to keep him going.
"Right as it felt like, 'Man, I'm hitting my head against a brick wall, nothing's happening,' there'd be a little break of some sort. Even if it was tiny, it was like, 'Okay, there's a little momentum forward,'" he continues. "That always kept me going. I always felt like what I was trying to do was just around the corner."
Of course, it wasn't that easy. "They kept moving the corner," Urban adds, laughing. "Like an M.C. Escher painting. It kept moving, but it was always just there, [right in front of me.] [They] kept dangling the carrot, and I just kept moving. And, eventually, they stopped moving the corner."
These days, as Urban says, he's finally made it around that corner -- and then some. Most recently, he's been basking in the widespread success of his Graffiti U album and its lengthy accompanying tour. The reigning CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year will remain busy with performances and festival dates throughout the summer of 2019, and is working on new music.
Unforgettable Keith Urban Moments
See Keith Urban + More Country Stars Then and Now