After Keith Urban learned of the death of Jimmy Buffett this weekend (9/1), he honored his friend at a show in Atlantic City. Keith posted the moment to his Instagram.
Urban told the crowd, “I’ll just take a second to acknowledge the passing of an incredible musician, Jimmy Buffett.” The crowd cheers as Keith continues, “I was shocked today to hear about that. I was immediately thinking about a time when we got to go down to St. Barts. We got an invite from Jimmy to go have dinner with him and his wife. And when we were down there, Jimmy said to me. ‘Man, you should grab your guitar; there’s a bar in town, and I’m sure if we take our guitars, they’ll let us sit in.’ So, there’s me and Jimmy carrying our guitars down the street in St. Barts and go to this cool bar, and we sang a couple of songs, and my wife was with me (he shows a photo of Nicole with Jimmy and his wife) of course, so there’s Jimmy and Nic right there and Janie in front of Jimmy.”
Urban strums his guitar and adds, “It was such an honor to know him. It’s a huge loss, but an incredible legacy of music that he has left us. (This is) One of the first songs that I learned when I started playing guitar.” He plays Buffett’s classic “Come Monday.” After that, he played “Margaritaville.”
RELATED: Keith Urban's 'Chicken Pickin' Got Him Fired From Metal Band
Not long ago, Keith told me how he first introduced country music to his wife, Nicole Kidman. He revealed, “The very first song I played here was ‘Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way’ by Waylon Jennings. I didn’t tell her anything; she just got in the car one day, and I hit play, and that kick drum started, and the guitar started.”
Urban adds, “She starts bopping her head and says, ‘Aw, I like this! What’s this?’ So she was hooked from then on.”
In the same interview, Keith told me about the music that his family listened to when he was a kid in Australia. He offered, “There was such a healthy mix of contemporary country music from my dad’s record collection. But also, I was just spoon-fed radio, Top 40 radio as a little kid; even in Dad’s car, we always listened to the radio. Even in the house, we seemed to listen to the radio more than we watched TV.”
9 Of The Sweetest Country Music Couples
Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani
Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesThese two started dating after meeting on NBC’s The Voice in 2015 and got married in 2022. They are one of entertainment’s biggest and most watched couples today. They enjoyed music success together on their number-one country duets, “Nobody But You” and “Happy Anywhere.” They post about their happy life together on social media often, and their millions of followers love every minute of it.
Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman
Jamie McCarthy/Getty ImagesKeith and Nicole married in 2006 and have enjoyed 17 years of wedded bliss along with their two daughters Sunday, 15, and Faith, who is 13. Watching the Oscar-winning Kidman sit front and center at country music award shows supporting her man is always a joy. When Urban won the coveted Entertainer of the Year honor from the ACMs in 2018, Nic (as he calls her) was right by his side.
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
Kevin Winter/ Getty ImagesThese two superstars in country music will celebrate their 27th wedding anniversary in October. With their two successful country careers through the years, they have often been called “country music royalty,” and that’s really what they are. On social media, the couple often celebrates each other and their three grown daughters, Grace, Maggie, and Audrey.
Kane and Katelyn Brown
Jason Kempin/Getty ImagesThis young couple glow when they walk red carpets together. Their duet “Thank God” is now a staple of country radio, and the song and video earned them much praise from critics, listeners, and their peers. The couple is still in their twenties and often post family fun about their two young daughters, Kingsley and Kodi.
Luke and Nicole Combs
Jason Kempin/Getty ImagesLuke and Nicole met while on a songwriting retreat, and the couple has been inseparable ever since. They were married in 2020 and have since had their one-year-old son Tex. Any day now, they are expecting their second baby, a boy, to add to their growing family. Walking many red carpets together through the years of Combs’ success, the couple shine, walking arm in arm.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood
Jason Kempin/Getty ImagesGarth and Trisha are another example of country music “royalty.” The couple has known each other since the very beginning of their careers in Nashville in the early 1990s. They have been friends that bloomed into love and a marriage that has lasted 18 years to date. Through the years, they have recorded several duets together and tour with one another, as Trisha opens most of Garth’s shows.
Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty ImagesMaren and Ryan met in a songwriting room and have been connected ever since. Since they married, the couple had a baby boy, who was born in 2020 during the pandemic. They have recorded a handful of duets through the years, including “Chasing After You,” which they performed at the 56th Annual ACM Awards in 2021.
Lainey Wilson and Devlin Hodges
Jason Kempin/Getty ImagesLainey brought her new man with her to officially announce they were dating at the 2023 ACM Awards. She won Female Vocalist and Album of the Year at the show for “Bell Bottom Country.” Wilson recently said of writing songs after dating former Pittsburgh NFL football player Devlin Hodges, “I’ve never written a love song in my life until the last two and a half years.”
Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes
Emma McIntyre/Getty ImagesKelsea started dating “Outer Banks” actor Chase Stokes earlier this year. The two have been seen walking red carpets together in Nashville and Hollywood. He recently surprised her at a show in California, flying the Red-eye from North Carolina, where he was filming his show. The sweet actor flew just to spend a few hours with his girl before heading back East for work.