Keith Urban Puts His ‘Voice’ to Good Use After Throat Surgery

Keith Urban is about to log a lot of frequent flier miles. The country superstar will spend much of the next few months flying back and forth to Australia, filming his home country's version of 'The Voice.' Keith joins fellow Aussie Delta Goodrem, R&B/soul sensation Seal and Good Charlotte's Joel Madden as the show's four celebrity coaches.

"It'll be a blast spending a little time in Australia working on 'The Voice,' getting the opportunity to try and help some killer raw talent blossom," says the 'You Gonna Fly' singer. "I have a feeling that being immersed in that 'everything is possible' energy will have a real inspiring and liberating effect on creating new music for my new album!"

Keith has already started writing for his next album, which doesn't yet have a release date. It'll be the follow-up to his 2010 'Get Closer' CD, which spawned the chart-toppers 'Without You' and 'Long Hot Summer,' along with the Top 5 hits, 'Put You in a Song' and 'You Gonna Fly.' The latter is still climbing and could very well become the singer's 14th No. 1 single.

Now recovered from his November throat surgery, Keith will make his first public performance since the procedure tomorrow (Feb. 3) at the Grand Ole Opry. The historic show will be held at one of the singer-songwriter's all-time favorite venues, downtown Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium. It was announced last week that the Ryman will be getting a new stage after 61 years.

"I'm really looking forward to being back on stage, and more specifically on the Opry stage," says Keith. "When I was told earlier this week that the Ryman was going to start renovations on the stage after our show, I thought, 'You know, when we say we're really gonna tear it up tonight, maybe they're worried I mean it literally?'"

Keith will follow his Opry gig with a trip to Texas for two benefit concerts next weekend. In the spring, he'll take a break from 'The Voice' to return to Nashville for his annual 'All for the Hall' concert, set for April 10. Get a full list of his tour dates here.

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