Keith Urban

A romantic country crooner whose fret-burning guitar mastery is his secret weapon? No, it's not Vince Gill, but our very own Keith Urban. Lovelorn ballads rocketed Urban to the top of the country charts, but their modern pop/rock feel has as much in common with Chris Daughtry as any cowboy-hatted twang-banger. Urban turns his broken-hearted angst inward on the power ballad "Stupid Boy," taking the blame for lost romance while wailing guitars cry right along with him. Next Steps looks into Urban's rocking side.

Keith Urban's biggest hits have been tender ballads of love and loss, but before you pigeonhole him as a soft-centered romantic, study up on his rough side. You want pickin' the speed of a nitrous-injected moonshine run, then try to keep tabs on his fingers during "Clutterbilly" (from In the Ranch) . . . you'll soon be eating his dust. If you fancy a bit of raunch with your Urban ranch, ladies, then try on "You Look Good In My Shirt," and for a last-orders country pub shuffle, his cover of "Stuck in the Middle With You" hits the spot.

Pushing at the edges of country music's borders, Keith Urban fuses pop, rock, and R&B into a sound that redefines Nashville for a new era. A full-blown superstar with a famous actress wife (Nicole Kidman), a photogenic mug, and a multi-platinum track record, Urban's still all about the music, turning out classy tunes full of soul-baring sadness and life's-a-party madness in equal measure. Whether you're a country fan on the cutting-edge or a pop/rock maven looking for something rootsy but cool, the country boy with the city name has the tunes to tickle your fancy, and you'll find them all right here, from sweet love serenades to raunchy roadhouse rockers that give new meaning to the term "Urban cowboy."