Keith Urban is no stranger to a life on the road, having been a musician for decades, but that doesn't mean spending sometimes months on end away from his loved ones gets any easier. The 57-year-old opened up about how "miserable" touring can be and the emotional hurdles he faces when it comes to spending time apart from his family in the debut episode of his new CBS and Paramount competition series, The Road, which premieres October 19. "Where do we start?" Keith, who is in the middle of a divorce from his wife of 19 years, Nicole Kidman, said during the episode, according to the Daily Mail. "It's a calling, and you're going to do it or you're not going to make it."
"When you wake up on a tour bus at 3.30 in the morning and you're sick as a dog, you're in the middle of nowhere and you've got to play your fifth show later that night, and you haven't slept, and you miss your friends, and you're missing your family, and you're completely lonely and miserable and sick – and you say to yourself, 'Why am I doing this?' The only answer can be: Because this is what I'm born to do."
Keith's honest comments come just weeks after news of his and Nicole's separation at the end of last month. Nicole filed for divorce on Tuesday, September 30, in Nashville, where the couple has lived since 2007. According to court documents obtained by People, Nicole listed their date of separation as the date of filing and cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.
Several reports claimed that the idea to separate came from the country music star, 57, who'd been living separately from his movie star wife, 58, since earlier this summer. The pair had several conflicting work commitments keeping them apart, between Keith's worldwide tour in support of his album High, and Nicole's various projects, such as Practical Magic 2 and the newest season of Big Little Lies.
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© Getty ImagesOn October 2, Keith was seen for the first time since news broke of their shocking split. He was pictured without his wedding ring as he stepped off a private jet in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, ahead of his High and Alive tour show at the Giant Center. Keith surprisingly still paid tribute to Nicole and their two daughters, Sunday, 17, and Faith, 14, by including a photo of the trio in a slideshow while he sang his 2024 track "Heart Like A Hometown."
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© Getty ImagesHowever, the star made a major change to the setlist when he dropped "The Fighter", his 2016 hit with Carrie Underwood, which he wrote about his relationship with Nicole. He switched to "Wild Hearts" instead, a move which did not go unnoticed. Keith's choice to take "The Fighter" out of the show may have been prompted by the backlash he received from a video uploaded by his utility player, Maggie Baugh, of the pair performing the song together. Maggie was noticeably absent from the concert, and Keith was still without his wedding ring.
