Jackson, Urban, Cyrus + More Hail Their Heroes

Alan Jackson admires actors from the 30s and 40s. Billy Ray Cyrus looks up to one of America's most famous inventors. Carrie Underwood, Trace Adkins and Toby Keith all look up to one of their parents, while Keith Urban idolizes the 'Rhinestone Cowboy.' Those are just a few of the real-life heroes some of country's biggest acts revealed in the latest issue of Country Weekly.

"They came from rural backgrounds, and they went into World War II," Jackson says of his personal heroes, Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart. "They had lived, and they were real people when they walked onto the screen."

Cyrus credits Thomas Edison with the start of his country career. It was the inventor's famous saying, "The most important ingredient for success is failure," that inspired Cyrus to keep shooting for the stars, even when it looked like he'd never catch a break.

"Every time you fail, you eliminate one way that won't work, therefore being one way closer to the one that will," says Cyrus. "Well, I failed in just about every imaginable way. But I found one way that would work, and it became that first album, 'Some Gave All'."

Underwood looks up to her mother, Carole, the most. Once a school teacher, it was her mother who drove Underwood to talent shows when she wasn't old enough to drive.

"She's just such a wonderful person," the country 'Idol' gushes. "I hope someday when I have kids, I can be somewhat the mother she was to us. Her being supportive of me helped me the most."

Reba McEntire, Toby Keith and Trace Adkins look up to their fathers as their personal heroes. Adkins admits, however, that his father is "a real hard-noser."

"Someone once said to me, 'Your old man reminds me of John Wayne,'" Adkins recalls. "I said, 'Hell, my old man makes John Wayne look gay."

Many stars idolize other musical legends. Kenny Chesney admits his hero is also his good friend, Willie Nelson, whose latest album, 'Moment of Forever,' he co-produced.

"The idea that he'd call me about making a record with him, well you just don't dream stuff like that. He's one of the great American voices of all time, and he's someone I've listened to my whole life. You just want to make a record that's as good as he is," Chesney says of Nelson.

Nelson, in turn, idolizes famed band leader Bob Wills: "He had an incredible association and relation with his band. They watched him all the time, and he only had to nod or point his fiddle bow, and they would play," Nelson says of Wills. "They respected him a lot, and it was mutual respect. So I always thought that he was the greatest band leader that I had seen."

Keith Urban grew up listening to the music of Glen Campbell, Charley Pride and Don Williams, thanks to his father's extensive album collection. Particularly fond of Campbell, Urban distinctly remembers meeting his hero when he was only eight years old, a moment that impacted the rest of Urban's life.

"He could do it all. He sang, he was a great guitar player. That's what I admired about him as an artist," Urban says of Campbell.

You can read about all of your favorite stars' heroes in the latest issue of Country Weekly.