Australian country music artist Keith Urban paid tribute to the music greats who passed away in 2016 in his New Year’s Eve performance in Nashville, Tennessee, considered by some as the home of American country music.
In a performance entitled “Music City Midnight,” thousands of Nashville locals and those from outside of the city braved the cold rain to watch the jam-packed gig that featured both Keith Urban and Styx.
Keith Urban also arrived at the gig along with his actress wife, Nicole Kidman, reports Wide Open Country.
The country music singer paid tribute to Merle Haggard, Glenn Frey, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, George Michael, and Prince during his eight-minute set leading up to midnight.
As he began singing the songs of the late music greats who all passed away last year in a medley, their images appeared on the screen, which sent chills to the appreciative crowd.
Keith Urban also got carried away by the emotions when his wife shows up on stage to dance along. Nicole Kidman dances all the way through Bowie, Haggard, and eventually, the full-tilt performance of “Purple Rain” made popular by Prince.
It can be recalled that in Nicole Kidman’s movie, “Moulin Rouge,” shown in 2001, also featured David Bowie’s classic song “Heroes.”
Incredible mark
Urban also praised the incredible mark that the late music greats have left in the business and on him personally, stating that he grew up with a lot of the artists.
The country music artist began his medley with a soulful acoustic rendition of George Michael’s “Careless Whisper.” And the crowd sang along as he moved onto Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”
His tribute took an upbeat turn with “Take It Easy,” a hat tip to the late Eagles founder Glenn Frey, details the Huffington Post of Canada.
While Nicole Kidman’s was dancing on the medley, Keith Urban’s bandmates joined him to cap off the tribute with a rousing electric version of Prince’s “Purple Rain.”
In the era where music lip syncing has become almost the norm, critics were saying that seeing Keith Urban take the stage with an acoustic guitar and pay tribute to music legends was pretty superb and special.
A close look at the life of Urban
Keith Urban is actually born in New Zealand but is an Australian. He started as a country musician in Australia.
His major break happened in 1991 when he released a self-titled debut album and charted four singles in Australia before moving to the United States the following year.
He found work as a session guitarist before starting a band known as The Ranch, which recorded one studio album on Capitol Nashville and charted two singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
While still under contract with Capitol, Urban made his solo American debut in 1999 with the album “Keith Urban,” that went on to become a certified platinum album in the US.
The album also produced his first No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs with “But for the Grace of God”.
“Somebody Like You”, the first single from his second Capitol album entitled “Golden Road” released in 2002 was named by Billboard as the biggest country hit of the 2000s decade.
The album’s fourth single, “You’ll Think of Me”, earned Keith Urban his first Grammy award.
In 2004, his third American album, entitled “Be Here,” produced three more No. 1 singles and became his highest-selling album, earning four-times Platinum certification.
His fourth album entitled “Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing” was released in 2006, containing “Once in a Lifetime” as well as his second Grammy song, “Stupid Boy.”
A greatest hits package entitled “Greatest Hits: 18 Kids” followed in late-2007.
Keith Urban’s fifth and sixth albums, entitled “Defying Gravity” and “Get Closer,” respectively, were released in March 2009 and in November 2010, respectively.