During Monday night’s The Voice Health Institute’s Raise Your Voice Gala honoring Julie Andrews in New York City, country music star Keith Urban confessed that he had gone under the knife to remove a vocal cord polyp.
As reported by Billboard, Urban told the attendees, “I didn’t realize how much low-grade depression I was really living with. My voice was vulnerable, so it made me insecure and made everything in my life vulnerable. When you healed it and fixed it the way you did, I felt my entire spirit and life lift. I got stressed way less, I didn’t have anxiety. It had such a profound effect on my whole being and world. That’s how important my voice is to me.”
Urban shared this intimate confession while praising the work of Dr. Steven Zeitels, the surgeon whose care has helped out the voices of other stars such as Julie Andrews, Sam Smith, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, and more.
The New Zealand native also explained that performing five nights a week for four hours a night during the early years of his career paired with a “less than healthy lifestyle” damaged his vocal cords. Fortunately, his wife Nicole Kidman and a conversation with fellow musician John Mayer convinced him to seek out help for his ongoing vocal issues.
Thank goodness he listened to Nicole and acted quickly to finally heal his vocal cords. Could you imagine a world without Urban’s distinctive voice? Here he is performing “Female” acoustically…
Fans will get plenty of opportunities to see Keith performing live this year! The superstar is set to start his GRAFFITI U World Tour on June 15th in St. Louis, Missouri and wrap it up in November with country music songstress Kelsea Ballerini providing direct tour support. Check out the tour stops below!
GRAFFITI U WORLD TOUR Schedule
Sat Jun 16 Indianapolis, IN Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
Fri Jun 22 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
Sat Jun 23 Pittsburgh, PA KeyBank Pavilion
Wed Jun 27 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Fri Jun 29 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage
Sat Jun 30 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage
Thu Jul 5 Gilford, NH Bank of NH Pavilion
Fri Jul 6 Gilford, NH Bank of NH Pavilion
Sun Jul 8 Canandaigua, NY CMAC
Fri Jul 13 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
Sat Jul 14 Denver, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
Sun Jul 15 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater
Fri Jul 20 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sat Jul 21 Lake Tahoe, NV Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys
Sun Jul 22 Lake Tahoe, NV Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys
Fri Jul 27 Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
Sat Jul 28 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
Sun Jul 29 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Amphitheatre
Fri Aug 3 Philadelphia, PA BB&T Pavilion
Sat Aug 4 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center
Sun Aug 5 Bangor, ME Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion
Fri Aug 10 Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center
Sat Aug 11 Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live
Sun Aug 12 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
Wed Aug 15 Rogers, AR Walmart AMP*
Fri Aug 17 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
Sat Aug 18 Chicago, IL Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Sun Aug 19 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
Fri Aug 24 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
Sat Aug 25 Orange Beach, AL The Wharf Amphitheater
Sun Aug 26 Tuscaloosa, AL Tuscaloosa Amphitheater
Fri Sept 7 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
Sat Sept 8 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
Fri Sept 14 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
Sat Sept 15 London, ON Budweiser Gardens
Wed Sept 19 Winnipeg, MB Bell MTS Place
Fri Sept 21 Saskatoon, SK SaskTel Centre
Sat Sept 22 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place
Sun Sept 23 Calgary, AB ScotiaBank Saddledome
Tue Sept 25 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
Thu Sept 27 Eugene, OR Matthew Knight Arena
Fri Sept 28 Boise, ID Taco Bell Arena
Sat Sept 29 Missoula, MT Adams Center
Thu Oct 4 Phoenix, AZ Ak-Chin Pavilion
Fri Oct 5 Laughlin, NV Laughlin Event Center
Fri Oct 12 Peoria, IL Peoria Civic Center
Sat Oct 13 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
Sun Oct 14 Grand Forks, ND Ralph Engelstad Arena
Thu Oct 18 Toledo, OH Huntington Center
Fri Oct 19 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
Sat Oct 20 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
Wed Oct 24 Youngstown, OH Covelli Centre
Thu Oct 25 Hershey, PA Giant Center
Sat Oct 27 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center
Sun Oct 28 Charlottesville, VA John Paul Jones Arena
Thu Nov 1 Little Rock, AR Verizon Arena
Fri Nov 2 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
Sat Nov 3 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
