Keith Urban has a lot to thank Nicole Kidman for. The musician and the actress, both 46, have been married since 2006 and encountered perhaps the greatest challenge of their marriage shortly after becoming husband and wife.
Urban opened up about his well-documented substance abuse problems and Kidman's role in saving him in a new interview with Rolling Stone. Just months after he said "I do" to Kidman in June 2006, Urban checked himself into rehab.
"I was very, very blessed to have Nic call an intervention on me. I had a tight group of friends around me for the intervention," Urban told the publication. "I didn't give a shit about anything except turning a corner in my life and doing whatever it took for that. And off I went."
Urban's trip to rehab and his recognition of his internal issues fell at the same time as the scheduled release of his studio album Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing, which hit stores in November of the same year.
"The first thing that I think about with this record is how everything's about to come undone, not long after this [cover] picture was taken, actually. I'm already in a bit of trouble," he told Rolling Stone about the project. "We shot this over in England where Nic was doing something at the time. I think we were mixing [the album] to coincide with her being there. I wasn't in any recovery program of any sort. I wasn't in AA. I didn't have a sponsor. I didn't have anything. Meeting Nic and falling in love with Nic and starting a relationship with Nic became—I realize now in hindsight—my sobriety. That was how I was able to keep it together."
Urban's publicist released a statement at the time, reading, "Keith Urban voluntarily admitted himself to a treatment rehabilitation center last night with his wife by his side. 'I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones that love and support me,' said Keith. 'One can never let one's guard down on recovery, and I'm afraid that I have. With the strength and unwavering support I am blessed to have from my wife, family and friends, I am determined and resolved to a positive outcome.'"
The country star found his recovery in devoting himself entirely to his treatment. "I was very ready [for rehab]," he told Rolling Stone. "I remember having been in rehab a few weeks, and the CMAs happened while I was in there. I forgot they were on. That's how much I had gotten into this recovery. I had gone to bed and I remember our night tech coming in and him saying, 'You just won something. Male vocalist? CMAs or something?' And I was like, 'Really?' And he said, 'Yeah, off to bed,' and he shut the door. And I said to my roommate, 'Hey, I just won Male Vocalist of the Year,' and he's like, 'That's awesome.' I just lay there in the dark going, 'How weird is this?'"
In the years since his simultaneous professional success and personal struggle, Urban's marriage to Kidman has remained strong. The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Sunday Rose, in July 2008, and their second child, daughter Faith Margaret, in December 2010.
