Keith Urban’s Father Passes Away

Keith Urban is mourning the loss of his father, Robert Urban, who passed away on Saturday (Dec. 5) after a long battle with cancer.

In a statement, the country superstar says that he's "deeply touched by the outpouring of love and support that Nic and I, and our family, have received" since his dad's death, but there is solace in the fact that "[h]is long battle with cancer is now over, and he is finally at peace."

On Tuesday (Dec. 1), at an event to celebrate the opening of the Keith Urban So Far exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Urban revealed to the Tennessean newspaper that his father had been placed in hospice care and likely only had "a few weeks, if that."

"This has all come at a very strange time, where it’s typical of a career that has extreme highs and extreme lows, all often at the exact same time," Urban explains. "So [the exhibit] is bittersweet a little bit because [my dad] is the catalyst for all of this. My dad is the catalyst for me living in America.”

In his statement, the singer reiterates his father's influence on his career and his decision to move to the U.S.: "My Dad's love of country music and America set me on my life's journey and shaped so much of who I am today."

Indeed, in Urban's Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit are numerous pieces of clothing he wore when he was performing as a young boy in Australia -- items made for the future star by his father.

"My dad particularly always thought it was important that I dressed like a performer, so a lot of those outfits were actually made by him, with the help of my mom, but particularly my dad,” Urban says. “He just really thought I should dress well and look like a performer.”

The Boot extends our deepest condolences to Urban and his entire family during this sad time.

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