Little Big Town took the stage at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday night to introduce Keith Urban's latest performance at the annual event, where they noted that the superstar was "stopped in his tracks" and deeply moved the first time he heard the song he was about to perform, "Burden." He wasn't even halfway through his performance before it was made abundantly clear why. Urban's rendition of the touching song was nothing short of powerful, singing lyrics like "I could carry your burden," and "Come to me, my brother, and I will sit with you a while / Pretty soon I'll see you smile and you know you will." As usual Urban had the audience deep in their emotions, including wife Nicole Kidman, who cheered him on from the front row. Watch a clip from the 51-year-old country star's performance ahead, and then keep scrolling to see more choice moments from Urban's big night!<doc-sep>Keith Urban delivered a stunning performance yet again at the Academy of Country Music Awards on April 7, proving exactly why he is a fan favorite. Keith Urban, 51, stunned the crowd at the ACM Awards on April 7 with his moving performance of the song “Burden.” Dressed all in black, the singer sang the haunting track about carrying a person’s burden, which won him praise and applause from the star-studded crowd, including from his loving with Nicole Kidman. Keith’s performance was introduced by country group Little Big Town, who explained why he chose to sing this particular song. “When Keith Urban first heard this next song he says it stopped him in his tracks,” Karen Fairchild said. “This powerful song moved him because he knows that people are going through really hard times right now,” Kimberly Schlapman added. “And so, he felt compelled to perform it tonight for every one of them,” Jimi Westbrook said, before Phillip Sweet went on to introduce Keith. The Australian country star has been nominated for two Academy of Country Music Awards this year – for Entertainer of the Year and for Male Artist of the Year. Keith has been a multi-ACM Award winner, scooping up an impressive hardware collection from the Academy. The singer has won 14 ACMs since he won the Top New Male Vocalist Award in 2000. On April 7 Keith took a break from his tour to take to the stage at the Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. He has been crisscrossing the world and the country performing for his army of fans, but that doesn’t mean the father-of-two doesn’t have time to spend with his family – especially with his wife, Nicole Kidman. The Aussie lovebirds had a date night out to see Bryan Cranston in Network on Broadway recently. Nicole, 51, shared a selfie from the audience on Instagram on March 31. She added the caption, “Thank you Bryan, Tatiana and the whole cast for a riveting and arresting night of great theater. Xx.” (The “Tatiana” she is referring to is Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany, who also stars in the show.) It’s not the first time that Nicole and Keith have been lovey-dovey at events. In January they were spotted canoodling while watching the Australian Open in Melbourne. On Valentine’s Day the actress shared a picture of them gazing into each other’s lives at another red carpet event. Nicole and Keith have been married for 13 years and have two kids together – daughters Sunday Rose, 10, and Faith, 8.<doc-sep>
Fresh from his passionate performance of “Burden” at Sunday night’s ACM Awards, capped by his first-ever ACM Entertainer of the Year victory, Keith Urban has officially sent his recorded version of the uplifting tune to streaming services. The piano-driven tune, written by Irish musician Foy Vance, and produced by Urban with the ubiquitous Dave Cobb, had a profound and immediate effect on the singer when he first heard it. “I was riding my bicycle, and I just stopped,” Urban told Billboard of the song taken from Vance’s 2016 LP The Wild Swan. “It went right into the center of me. I got back to Nashville and thought I’d love to capture how I feel about this song if I can.” In the song’s second verse, Urban sings, “When your mouth’s on fire but your mind is cold and you’re fanning flames that won’t keep you warm/Come to me, my brother and I will sit with you awhile, pretty soon I’ll see you smile and you know you will.” The song’s universal message of healing and rebirth can also be seen as one of a spiritual nature as Urban sings, “Let me carry your burden, come tomorrow you’ll be right as rain/It’ll quench your fire, wash away your stain.” As the song ends, the quiet piano is replaced by fiery guitars and Urban’s vocal turns from inwardly intense to soul-baring, accompanied by wailing guitar and an ethereal gospel choir. It’s currently unknown if “Burden” will appear on Urban’s next full-length LP. His most recent radio hit was “Never Comin’ Down,” the fourth single from the 2018 album Graffiti U.