Photo: Daniel Cavazos for iHeartRadio
Keith Urban rocked the 2024 iHeartCountry Festival stage on Saturday (May 4) at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, stealing the show with an electrifying performance that combined some of his biggest hits with his newer music and even giving a surprise shoutout to his fellow country superstar Lainey Wilson.
Urban kicked off his high-energy set with "Straight Line," the first single from his upcoming album, proving that he's not only a true performer through and through but that he's also one of the best guitarists in the game as he wrapped up the song with an incredible solo.
He then moved on to "One Too Many," his duet with P!NK, joined by Maggie Baugh who filled in for the "So What" singer with flying colors, before returning to another new hit "Messed Up As Me," a song with lyrics realizing that he made a mistake letting his love go and wondering if she is as "messed up as me and all alone."
Photo: Daniel Cavazos for iHeartRadio
The Australian musician threw things back with one of his biggest hits, 2002's "Somebody Like You," getting the crowd smiling and dancing along with the lyrics. Urban even praised the excited crowd, saying he loves performing in the Lone Star State and even breaking into a bit of the song-turned-popular rallying cry "Deep in the Heart of Texas," singing "The stars at night are big and bright" before the crowd cheered the response, "Deep in the heart of Texas."
Urban switched gears to another older hit of his, "Blue Ain't Your Color," which transformed the stage with swirls of blue as blue spotlights washed over the crowd while they sang along. Just when you though the song was over, he kept the party going as he walked through the crowd, bringing the music directly to fans on the floor as he made his way to the back of the arena.
He kept that same energy going into his next and final song, "Wasted Time," strolling through the crowd and even taking a few selfies along the way. Urban was clearly having the time of his life, laughing with the excited fans, doing a fun call-and-response, and even shouting out his pal and collaborator Lainey Wilson in a quick lyric change about listening to her on the radio.
In addition to his newer songs, he also has a new song that dropped Friday (May 3), "Go Home W U," a track featuring Wilson. Although the epic collab is a win for fans of both singers, Urban revealed that the anthem wasn't originally supposed to be a duet when he wrote it but that all changed when Wilson agreed to join him on the track, the third song to be released form his next album.
Photo: Daniel Cavazos for iHeartRadio
Urban recently made waves when he walked a red carpet alongside his wife, Academy Award winning actress Nicole Kidman, and their two daughters, Sunday Rose Kidman-Urban, 15, and Faith Margaret Kidman-Urban,13, for the very first time. The rare public appearance with his family occurred when Kidman was honored at the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute. The "Blue Ain't Your Color" singer sweetly honored his wife with his own heartfelt tribute on Instagram, sharing a list of former Lifetime Achievement Award winners that include standouts like Elizabeth Taylor, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep and Julie Andrews, to name a few.
Keith Urban was one act in a stacked list of performers at this year's iHeartCountry Festival. Once again hosted by Bobby Bones, the night featured an amazing set of incredible performances from Jason Aldean, Jelly Roll, Lady A, Old Dominion, Riley Green, Ashley McBryde, Brothers Osborne and Walker Hayes.