Keith Urban shared his struggles with the pandemic and admitted how affected he was when he was forced to cancel his shows.
Keith Urban has a lot of things on his plate before the pandemic. Unfortunately, he had to scrap what’s on his calendar, especially the scheduled shows, due to the pandemic. And it hit him hard.
Keith Urban struggled during the lockdown
Keith Urban has been juggling his schedule with consistent tour and recording. His wife, Nicole Kidman, has an equally demanding job and both are busy while they raise their two daughters.
When the pandemic started, he was forced to cancel his shows in Las Vegas. Following the cancelation, he also halted with the recording of his latest album. He completely stopped doing what he loves for the first time in his professional life which was difficult for him to process.
“I got creatively paralyzed,” Urban told Stellar.
“I didn’t do well with it. I just wanted to get in my trackies, sit on the couch and watch TV with Nic and the kids, and do nothing. I did that for a while.”
Due to the lockdown, Urban and Kidman’s family became super-tight. In fact, his management had started asking him when he would finish his recording.
“Not until this s–t blows over,” his response to their inquiry.
Then, he would list the things that he couldn’t do. He focused on the negative things which became an uncharacteristic trait until a friend whom he described as “older – and much wiser” cracked while listening to his complaints. Urban’s friend told him to list some of the things he can do instead. And that changed Urban’s perspective and he started to work on his new album.
“I pivoted from everything I couldn’t do to everything I could do. That was my turning point,” he continued.
The Blue Ain’t You Color crooner said it sounded cheesy but it changed everything for him. It prompted him to start his new album and move forward without looking back.
Urban on his new album
Keith Urban warns his fans that they will receive a jolt in his new album. Its first track, entitled Out The Cage has intense energy and frenetic beats. In fact, he felt that he would get some speeding tickets due to the song because it makes him feel like he wants to “break the speed limit or punch something.”
He said the inspiration for the song was his life during the lockdown. He wanted to go out and the do the things he usually does, but the pandemic forced him to stay at home. He poured out his emotions into the new album.
He also shared that he still has a little PTSD about the lockdown. They are already in Byron Bay but he can still think of Nashville. He likened himself into a little caged animal timidly walking feeling very different with the freedom he is enjoying sometimes even suspecting it. Until lockdown and curfew were imposed in Melbourne.
While some were thankful that their cities are open, for Urban it’s all the same.
“People are saying, ‘Thank God it’s down there.’ There is no ‘down there’ – it’s everywhere. It’s all of us,” he added.
Image used courtesy Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock