Keith Urban has been in rehearsals in Nashville this week for his upcoming ripCord World Tour, kicking off next week. He’ll include several songs from his new album, Ripcord, which is spending a second week at the top of the Billboard country album chart. He said during a private rehearsal event on Wednesday that he’s still trying to figure out how to include about nine of the songs from the new record into the set.

He’ll start his shows with “Gone Tomorrow Here Today,” which is also the first song from his new album, Ripcord. “When we wrote ‘Gone Tomorrow Here Today,’ I not only felt like that was the perfect song to start a record, I felt like it was the perfect song to start a tour, as well,” says Keith. “It’s just my own personal love for the things that I like about it, which is the fusion of the ganjo – which is such a crucial part of my sound, but it’s presented in a way that I have not done before. The melodic structure of that riff is not like anything in any of my other songs, but the sound is very familiar. I like that sense of having something that is very familiar to everybody, but then do a twist on it…It hopefully has enough familiarity to pull you along, yeah, to pull you along for the journey as well. So, it seemed again like a good opening track for the show.”

Keith’s ripCord World Tour, which also features Brett Eldredge and Maren Morris, launches June 2nd in Kansas City, Missouri. He’ll play a bunch of amphitheaters and will include a second satellite stage located on the lawn.

Keith Urban’s eighth studio album RIPCORD has debuted at No. 1 in the United States, Canada and Australia, marking the second consecutive time that the four-time Grammy Award winner has achieved that historic milestone, something that no other male Country artist has done. It is also Urban’s fifth No. 1 album.

“The 15 months that I spent recording RIPCORD, was one of the most incredible musical journeys I’ve ever had,” said Urban.  “Working with some of the most creative, and inspiring musicians to explore and expand my music in the studio was exhilarating. To now see this music connecting with my audience in this way is an extraordinary feeling – it means everything to me.”

RIPCORD has already produced Urban’s 19th (“John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16”) and 20th (“Break On Me”) No. 1 songs.  His latest, “Wasted Time,” has given Urban his 36th consecutive Top 10 song.  It extends his record-breaking streak as the artist with the most consecutive top 10 songs on Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart – a streak that began back in August of 2000.

RIPCORD features some of the music industry’s most celebrated and influential musical collaborators from Pitbull to Nile Rodgers to Carrie Underwood and Dann Huff to Jeff Bhasker, Greg Wells and busbee.

Its release coincides with the June 2nd launch of Urban’s ‘ripCORD WORLD TOUR 2016,’ with Brett Eldredge and special guest Maren Morris in the United States, with Dallas Smith and Maren Morris in Canada and with Carrie Underwood in Australia.

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Keith Urban’s Ripcord album has debuted at the top of the country album chart. The record, which was released May 6th, sold 106,000 copies to land at No. 1 on the country chart.

A few of the songs on the album changed from how they were written or recorded when he first started the recording process. “It’s always an unknown thing for me. Get in the studio and a lot of it’s born, of course the song first and foremost, what the song wants, if the song’s a mannequin and how are we going to dress it. You can overdo, you can underdo it and it can change the song drastically, too,” says Keith. “I find recording a funny thing because you’re capturing a song in a particular form, but that is not mean to be the be all and end all of that song. That’s just one form of it… But for me getting in the studio is always, it’s fun. It’s like a sandbox for me. It has its share of frustration and all of it, but it has unlimited potential. That’s what excites me a lot.”

Ripcord features his current single, “Wasted Time,” as well as two previous chart-toppers, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” and “Break on Me.”

Keith is preparing to hit the road on his ripcord World Tour 2016 June 2nd in Kansas City, Missouri. He’s taking Brett Eldredge and Maren Morris along for the ride.

Keith Urban will perform during Good Morning America’s Summer Concert Series August 12th from New York’s Central Park on ABC.

Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan will perform as part of the Today Show’s Summer Citi Concert Series. Dierks and his band will take to the Today Show plaza May 27th, the same day his new album Black is released, while Luke will perform for the crowd June 3rd.

Luke Bryan’s latest single, “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day,” is inspiring people to post photos to his Twitter showing themselves either huntin’, fishin’ or lovin’ every day. Check out NASCAR driver Ryan Newman, aka “Rocket Man,” below with his catch of the day.

Kip Moore will perform during the second annual Pandora Country concert June 7^th as part of CMA Music Festival, the biggest week in country music. Fans can RSVP for the free show at Marathon Music Works, which also features Tyler Farr, Cam and Brent Cobb, at pandoracountry.com.

Lauren Alaina and Mickey Guyton, are among the country stars who’ve been added to the previously announced players — Vince Gill, David Nail, Scotty McCreery, RaeLynn, Charles Esten, Jamie Lynn Spears and many more for the 26^th annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Game. The event, which will benefit , takes place June 7th, at 3 p.m. from First Tennessee Park in Nashville. Proceeds benefit the City of Hope to help find cures for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Tickets are available at http://bit.ly/1QQDkff.

Aren’t Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman just the cutest couple in the world? Earlier this week, Nicole posted a video of her singing “Wasted Time,” her husband’s latest single, while in the makeup trailer getting ready to film scenes for her new upcoming HBO series, Big Little Lies, which also stars Reese Witherspoon and Alexander Skarsgard. Now, both Keith and Nicole have posted a video of them in the car singing along to “The Fighter” from his new album, Ripcord. Carrie Underwood actually duets with him on the record.

Keith will appear this afternoon on the Ellen DeGeneres Show (check local listings).

Ripcord is Keith’s eighth studio album and already features two No. 1 songs, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” and “Break On Me.”

Keith Urban is set to perform on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday (May 12th).

He released his brand new album, Ripcord, last Friday (May 6th).

Keith Urban has had a busy few days. He finished up his free noon time concert in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena plaza on Monday (May 9th) and flew straight to the West Coast so he could be the honorary PA announcer at the Los Angeles Dodgers game against the New York Mets.

He got to the stadium in time for batting practice, where he spoke with Mets manager Terry Collins, and according to MLB.com, the two had “a spirited conversation.” He met up with a few of the Dodgers’ players before announcing the teams starting lineup, followed by a visit with the legendary Tommy LaSorda.

Keith is on a cross-country promotional trip…and cross-country again…to promote his new album, Ripcord, which features two No. 1 singles — “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” and “Break on Me” — as well as his latest summer hit, “Wasted Time.”

Keith will launch his ripCord World Tour 2016 June 2nd in Kansas City, Missouri.

Keith Urban kicked off a free lunchtime show at Bridgestone Arena Plaza on Monday (May 9th) and played for approximately 10,000 people. He started off with “Gone Tomorrow, Here Today,” the first track from his new album, Ripcord, and performed to the excitement of the crowd a mixture of new songs and classic hits, such as “Long Hot Summer,” “Raise ‘Em Up,” “Sweet Thing” and “Break on Me,” as well as “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16,” “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and his latest hit, “Wasted Time.”

The event was part of a three-city whirlwind Ripcord release celebration that also included a sold-out performance in New York City last Wednesday at Stage 48, as well as a special Grammy Museum presentation Keith Urban: Inside The Songs Of RIPCORD Tuesday night (May 10th) in Los Angeles.

His new album, Ripcord, was just released last Friday (May 6th).

Keith Urban welcomed the cameras from CBS Sunday Morning to rehearsals for his upcoming Ripcord World Tour 2016 in Nashville. Keith talked about performing live on stage, writing and recording his new album, Ripcord, his father and much more. His wife, Nicole Kidman, dropped in and chatted about his songwriting.

“He will have worked all day and he’ll come home and go, ‘I haven’t got the song,’ and then suddenly the song will come together,” she said. “And he’ll be writing, and music is so much a part of our family now. The great thing about being artists and being — I’m an actor, and he’s a musician/songwriter –”

“I was aware of that,” reporter John Blackstone said.

“A lot of people may not be!” she laughed, then continued, “– that you have an innate understanding of what it takes to do the work, especially if you want it to be authentic and true.”

Keith’s new album Ripcord is now available. It features two No. 1 singles — “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” and “Break On Me,” as well as his latest smash hit, “Wasted Time.”

Keith Urban appeared on NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday night (May 6th) – the same day his new album, Ripcord, was released. He joined Fallon for a funny segment, taking posts from the website, FMyLife.com, and turning them into a country song. Folks posting on the site tag it with “FML,” which Fallon says is also the name of his duo with Keith.