After nearly 18 years of marriage, Keith Urban still strives for his wife Nicole Kidman’s approval when he performs.
“It fires me up a bit more,” Urban, 56, told People about Kidman, 56, attending his shows, in an interview published Wednesday, May 8. “I try to impress her.”
The couple attended the Met Gala together on Monday, May 6, their first appearance at the annual event since 2016. Urban donned a classic tux and bow tie while Kidman wore a stunning custom Balenciaga silk ball gown with a ruffle skirt.
The duo married in June 2006 in Sydney, Australia. They have two children together: daughters Sunday, 15, and Faith 13. The Big Little Lies star also shares daughter Bella, 31, and son Connor, 29, with ex-husband Tom Cruise.
In addition to always wanting to impress his wife, Urban says he’s also motivated by the memory of his late father, Robert Urban, who died In December 2015 after a long battle with cancer. He was 73.
“I feel like I’m still trying to make my dad proud, and I think my dad was proud years ago,” the four-time Grammy winner added. “My dad’s not even alive anymore and I still feel like I’m trying to get his approval. So certain things just stay part of my fire.”
This week, Urban announced his upcoming Las Vegas residency, and fans can expect Kidman to be in the audience. The country star will perform five shows this year at the Fontainebleau’s BleuLive Theater, beginning October 4. Then he will resume with five more performances in 2025, beginning on Valentine’s Day. The pre-sale kicked off Tuesday, and tickets for the general public go on sale Friday, May 10, at 10 a.m. PST on Ticketmaster.
The theater opened in December 2023 and Urban is excited to perform there for the first time.
“The room’s quite magical. I got to see it maybe two weeks before the grand opening, so they hadn’t even finished. They were still finishing it out and it just felt really special right there and then,” he said. “It has a really big [general admission] area, so I thrive off that kind of thing, so I’m looking forward to building the show in there.”
Urban previously performed Vegas residencies at Planet Hollywood and Caesars Palace but said playing in Sin City always presents a challenge.
“You’ve got a big mix of people. You’ve got some hardcore fans, you’ve got some people that know some of your songs, but you’ve always got people that don’t know anything that I do, and they’re just curious,” he said. “I try and get everyone connected and into it as fast as possible.”
