ENTERTAINMENT

Keith Urban: Just call him Mr. Platinum

Cindy Watts
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
Keith Urban performs during the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday, April 2, 2017, in Las Vegas.

Keith Urban’s much celebrated “Ripcord” just logged another milestone — platinum status.

Urban released “Ripcord” on May, 6, 2016, and the album is one of only two country music albums released in 2016 to sell the equivalent of 1 million copies.

“It’s an extraordinary feeling,” Urban said. “That’s all I can say. I love making music. I love writing. I love playing. I love all the things I get to do. For ‘Ripcord’ to have done what it's done is really magical.”

The album’s new platinum sales status means that every solo album Urban has released — nine of them — has sold more than 1 million copies. Urban is the second singer in country music with nine or more albums to have each album go platinum or multiplatinum.

“For Keith Urban to have every album certified platinum or better, it shows that Keith has stayed at the very top of the game and true to his fan base for longer than most artists have careers,” said Universal Music Group Nashville President Cindy Mabe. “Keith continues to set his pace, reinvent his sound and express what he wants to say while continuing to learn, discover and grow with his music. And his fans have stayed right there with him.”

“Ripcord” is home to four No. 1 songs — “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16,” “Break on Me,” “Wasted Time” and “Blue Ain’t Your Color” — and the album’s fifth single, “The Fighter,” featuring Carrie Underwood, is in the Top 15 and climbing.

“All the records that I’ve made, I listen to all of them and what I hear is a very truthful capturing of who I was at that time in my life,” Urban said. “I feel blessed that I get to say that. I think there are a lot of artists that might be like ‘Oh, I really gave in a bit too much there or I compromised a bit too much there.’ I don’t have one record that is that way for me. Looking back on those records, I feel fantastic. ‘Ripcord’ is just one of those stars-aligning moments. I feel very, very blessed.”

Urban is in the process of writing songs for his next album, although he says it’s “way premature” to know what direction he’s going with the sound.

“I feel like a satellite dish, I was telling a co-writer the other day,” Urban said. “My job is just to keep the dish clear of debris and keep being willing to turn it towards the incoming, because stuff is always coming in. It’s just my job to keep the dish nice and clear. Another way to say that is to suit up and show up every day and see what happens.”