Keith Urban took home the Triple Crown Award at the 2025 ACM Awards. The 57-year-old was eligible because he won Top New Male Vocalist in 2001, Male Vocalist of the Year in 2005 and 2006 and Entertainer of the Year in 2019. To be honored with the Triple Crown Award, last given during the ACM Awards to Carrie Underwood in 2010, was a dream come true.
“I’m a bit speechless, actually,” Urban said backstage after receiving the trophy. “I love that I get to do this. I love playing music. I don’t feel like any time has passed at all between winning Best New Artist and then winning Entertainer in 2019. It feels like really no time has passed at all.”
Urban’s eponymous debut solo album came out in 1999. When accepting the trophy, the father of two took the moment to thank those close to him, who have inspired him and helped him.
“I want to thank the ACM Academy for this, and my wife, Nicole Mary, who’s here tonight,” Urban said when accepting his trophy. “I love you, baby girl. Our girls, Sunny and Faith, watching at home tonight, I love you both, too. I have a massive team that I couldn’t possibly thank by name, but I want to thank my team for working so insanely hard behind the scenes, because there’s no such thing as a self-made man. I want to thank my road band and my road family, and I want to say a special thanks to all the fans that have been coming out to see us play. I really appreciate it.
“Country radio, my record company, Capitol Records, and the most amazing promo team out there, thank you for kicking it on Straight Line ,’” he continued. “We’re gonna be out on tour at the end of this month, the High and Alive World Tour. Thank you so much. We’ll see you soon.”
Urban is only a couple weeks away from kicking off his long-awaited tour, this time with a few new band members.
“It feels really good,” Urban said on Country Countdown USA. “I’ve always followed my inner voice that says it’s time to make a change in my life, and just take a leap. We’ve been lucky with this band, because we had the residency in Vegas to do with the new band. But I’m looking forward to getting out with a new band, new songs, new production, new everything.”
Urban will be joined on the tour by Chase Matthew, Alana Springsteen and Karley Scott Collins, all artists he picked himself to join him on tour.
“Chase I had heard about a couple of years ago, and just loved his voice, and his vibe, and his songs are great,” the New Zealand native told Audacy. “He’s great live, and I thought my audience would really like him a lot. Alana Springsteen sat in with us when we played Summerfest in Milwaukee, and we did a song together. I just loved her vibe, and her voice is so good. So I asked her if she wanted to tag along.
“And then Karley Scott Collins was an artist that a friend of mine, Nathan Chapman, was producing,” he continued. “He called me up and said, ‘I’ve got this track I’d love for you to play a solo on.’ Went into the studio, heard it. Loved her voice, loved the song. Got to meet her, and thought she’s a great fit as well, so we’re bringing all three of them out.”
Urban has a Top 40 hit with “Straight Line ,” from his latest HIGH album. Find music and tour dates at KeithUrban.com.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the ACM / Gilbert Flores