Keith Urban: Marriage Truly Divine

7/18/2007 Stephen L. Betts With a provocative headline proclaiming “Rehab Saved My Marriage”, People.com recently picked up on a Keith Urban feature which ran in this past weekend’s Tennessean newspaper. In an interview that took place in Atlanta recently, Keith told journalist Peter Cooper, “I do the old man view now. I picture myself in my 80s, looking back at my life and I try to make decisions based on that view. A tour? One record? That is such a blip on the radar. When I went to Betty Ford, I didn't care if the whole record got scrapped. It was just time to take care of my life.” Keith credits wife Nicole Kidman as the one who “really took the reins” and steered him towards rehab. “My wife was away,” he says, of the circumstances leading to his seeking treatment. “She hadn't really been away before, and it came as a shock to me to be alone and not prepared for it; alone with this thing that I had, this big monkey on my back.” Keith adds that he’s glad the situation happened, and says that what it has done for the couple’s marriage has been “truly divine.” Keith says he looks to Vince Gill as an example of how a country artist can do work and have a life outside the industry. Rather than touring constantly, Keith spends a couple of weeks on the road, then heads back to Australia to see his wife while she’s working on a movie.