The country music superstar opened up about his actress wife singing on his newest album, ‘Graffiti U.’
Nicole Kidman might have agreed to sing backup on one of Keith Urban ‘s Graffiti U tracks, but it wasn’t an easy feat.
During his Thursday night appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the country music star admitted that it took some work getting his actress wife to sing on “Female,” the album’s lead single.
“It would be like trying to get me to do a scene in something,” noted the 50-year-old singer. “It’s not my comfort level at all.”
Luckily, they have a home studio, which provided some element of privacy.
“We have a studio at the house, and it was just one of those times where I was recording that song ‘Female,’ and I was like, if ever there was a song for her, that’s the perfect one,” he said of the empowering anthem. “And she was home, so I dragged her down to do it.”
Kidman, 50, echoed those thoughts to ET last November during the 2017 American Music Awards .
“I went down [to sing vocals], and I did it because he asked me to,” she admitted of appearing on the track. “He knows I have no confidence when it comes to singing. So I’ll sing for him and that’s it.”
Urban also noted that his wife was equally reluctant when she recently joined him on stage during a Spotify event in Nashville.
“I was talking about this song called ‘Parallel Line’ which is on my new album. I wasn’t planning on singing the song, and I’m talking about the song to try and avoid singing this particular song. And I hear this woman go, ‘Play the song!’ And of course it’s Nic,” he told Meyers of the Big Little Lies star. “So I just say to her, ‘ You come up and sing it with me, and I’ll do the song.’ Some time went by, and I saw her slinking up slowly toward the stage, and to her credit, she came up.”
The “Wasted Time” singer added that the couple’s daughters, 7-year-old, Faith Margaret, and 9-year-old, Sunday Rose, aren’t quite as excited to see their dad perform. The girls are much more concerned with the tour amenities.
“They love the tour bus,” said the proud dad. “They love the bunks and the whole thing on the bus.”
Urban remembered a moment from a few years ago where their oldest daughter Sunday really kept it real.
“[Sunday] was at a show of mine one time, she must have been 6,” he recalled. “We’re backstage, and they had stayed up. Normally they go to bed early. So they’re up when I go on stage, and I said, ‘Do you wanna come see me play?’ and she goes, ‘Do I have to?’ She’s really keeping it real.”
The superstar added that when it comes to taking the kids to work, it’s often a competition between him and his wife.
“I have catering at my shows. Mom has craft services at her sets. So it’s always a battle for who’s got the better food,” he noted.
When he’s not busy working, Urban is a big hockey fan. He admitted that it was actually his wife who got him back into cheering for the Nashville Predators.
“Actually Nic really got me into it,” he said on Late Night . “I went to see the Preds maybe 20 years ago, but she really got me back into it in a big way.”
