Keith Urban

Country seems to be finding a bigger audience. Certainly an audience out of the general country scene is finding me.

I don't swear much; I've taken those words out of my vocabulary, and having kids, you have to have two sets of language!

The world is getting so reality-driven these days. It seems to be accelerating exponentially. But it's a dangerous game for a lot of people.

I think everybody has different priorities in their life. People live their lives differently. People become famous through all sorts of different reasons... some of it through art and some of it through just wanting to be famous. And I think how that all starts tends to reflect how you live your life daily.

At the end of the day, the Grammys are about recognizing genres that are making an impact.

I always wish I'd had more mentors, better mentors, wiser mentors, people who were proper professional working musicians to guide me as I was coming up.

I tend to write better when I'm not touring.

I think it took me a while to convince Nashville that what I do is genuine and my heart's in the right place, and I love country music.

Once we get into the groove, we're kind of like long-distance runners - that adrenalin kicks in for me and I just keep running - and I don't stop!

I'm a little more comfortable in that role. I love being in the studio.

Sometimes I just cry at random stuff!

Red carpets are pretty unpredictable. You can go from one person asking you what you're wearing to the next person asking you about the situation in Haiti. It's the extreme juxtaposition, and some of the questions can throw me!

I make no apologies for being a huge fan of radio songs.

It's not the case of turning in a bunch of songs and recording the next month. I think you're looking for songs all year long and you're writing all year long.

I love the beginnings of artists when all they've got is raw talent and nothing else.

Being with my family is very important to me, and touring is very important to me, too, because it's who I am. It's what I do.

There are certain songs that are sacred. People want to hear them just as they are in their head; they don't want you messing around with them. And then there are some other songs, if they've been around a long time in our set list, that I think we can take some creative liberties with.

You're always in a different headspace when you make each record, so hopefully they're all different. You just pick up things that you wish you hadn't done on the first one.

Getting on the bus and touring was my life. And when that was not around, I felt myself a bit lost at times, because that was all I had.

A song like 'Once in a Lifetime' is inspired by my marriage - it's a good, life-changing happening in my life. I think when you find your once-in-a-lifetime love, that's what everybody's looking for.