Keith Urban Calls Mentoring on THE VOICE ‘Very Inspiring’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Country music star Keith Urban shares how mentoring on THE VOICE inspires and challenges him as an artist.
“It doesn’t matter which part of the journey you’re in, whether you’re at the beginning like a lot of these artists are, or whether you’re Chance the Rapper or Dan + Shay, John Legend, anybody,” Urban told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. “I mean, and Reba [McEntire], who’s really had the longest career of everybody. So you’ve got every part of an artist’s journey represented within this one show. It’s extraordinary.”
Urban serves as the “mega mentor” on the show.
“I love being around new artists and artistry, period,” he explained. “Very inspiring to be around. And I also think for me personally, so much of the advice that I might give to somebody, I’ll drive home afterwards, and I’m thinking, ‘Do I do that myself? I’m saying that they should do this thing, but am I doing that?’ And I end up helping myself too because I’m like, ‘OK, well if you’re going to preach it, make sure you practice it as well.’ It’s a bit of accountability as well.”
“The thing about working with new artists is I think on one hand, of course, I’ve got a lot of things I’ve learned in my career that might be helpful to them,” he continued. “But I also learn, that’s the thing about being in those environments is I’m watching artists create something that’s fresh and unique to them, and it’s always inspiring to be around, because I’m constantly learning myself.”
As for the advice he gives, the singer meets “each artist where they’re at.”
“I’m sure the coaches would agree that nobody has all the answers. Particularly, if you’re doing something unique, chances are that nobody understands yet. A lot of artists get a lot of ‘You have to change this and change that.’ Sometimes, you don’t have to change anything at all. You have to keep working and make a better version of what already is,” he told Billboard.
One piece of wisdom he’s sharing with THE VOICE contestants is how to deal with nerves.
“I heard somebody say a while ago that when you say, ‘I’m really, really nervous, just change out the word to excited.’ And it has a profound change of energy in you,” Urban described. “And I’ve done it myself recently where I was doing something and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so nervous.’ And then I’m like, ‘No, wait, I’m so excited.’ And it motivated me instead of giving this little tinge of fear or trepidation, and just changing the word made all the difference.”
This isn’t Urban’s first time coaching THE VOICE.
NBC reported, “Urban served as a Coach on THE VOICE AUSTRALIA alongside Seal, Delta Goodrem, and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte. After leaving for a few years, Urban returned to Coach THE VOICE AUSTRALIA on seasons 10 and 11.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Urban and his wife, Nicole Kidman:
Country singer Keith Urban and the Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman were married in June of 2006. In a recent episode of the “Armchair Expert” podcast, hosted by actors Dax Shepherd and Monica Padman, Kieth Urban said he found “the one” when he married Kidman.
“She’s just the one,” Urban said. “She’s the one that I was searching for my whole life, and everything not only changed but had to change in me if I was gonna go that road.”
He credits Kidman for helping him on his journey to sobriety. Kidman staged an intervention for her husband, and Urban received the rehab needed to break his alcohol and cocaine addictions.
“It was like the ultimate fork-in-the-road moment in my life, and it was literally like you either get this right now or you are never, ever gonna get it right. This is your one shot,” Urban said.
