Keith Urban, the Australian country hitmaker, will enter the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame this fall. The institution, founded in 1970, cited his songs “But for the Grace of God,” “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me,” and “Days Go By” as reasons for his induction, which will take place at the titular town’s Music City Center on Oct. 11. Urban will be recognized in the Hall’s “contemporary songwriter/artist” category.
The other songwriters going into Hall this year include Brooks and Dunn’s Kix Brooks (whose credits include his own “Brand New Man” and “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone”), Casey Beathard (Tracy Byrd’s “Ten Rounds With Jose Cuervo” and Eric Church’s “Hell of a View”), David Lee Murphy (Kenny Chesney’s “Living in Fast Forward,” Murphy’s own “Dust on the Bottle”), and RafeVan Hoy (George Jones and Tammy Wynette’s “Golden Ring” and Deborah Allen’s “Baby I Lied”).
Beathard and Murphy will enter the Hall in the contemporary songwriter category. Van Hoy will go in, in the veteran songwriter category, while Brooks will enter in the veteran songwriter/artist category.
“Gathering for this occasion – to recognize and welcome the members of our incoming class – is always one of the highlights of our year,” Rich Hallworth, chair of the organization’s board of directors, said in a statement. “To this stellar group of songwriters, we say thank you for your songs and for your artistry. You are exceptional talents, and we are proud to honor you this fall, when you officially join your legendary peers in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.”
Urban told Rolling Stone in 2021 that he only recently started considering himself a songwriter. “For the longest time I would say to myself, I’m not really a songwriter,” he said. “I’m a guitar player blah blah blah. In the last year or two I’ve pivoted to saying, ‘Well, I love writing songs.’ — just start there, Keith.”
From Rolling Stone US
