Keith Urban says he's better now than he was before his vocal cord surgery

Keith Urban and banjo - photo via KeithUrban.net

I would think that for someone who makes their living singing, one of the scariest thoughts would have to be developing chronic throat problems. And surgery....fuhgetaboutit, that would have to be the scariest thought of all.   

But for Keith Urban, he says throat surgery has actually made him better.  

“I think if a footballer in their 40s was given their knees back like they were in their early 20s, that’s kind of how I feel right now,” Urban said. “It’s an extraordinary feeling of freedom.”

Keith says he had problems for years with his throat, but nothing bad enough to need urgent attention, until he developed a polyp.  When the polyp appeared, he began having difficulty hitting the notes that had made him famous.  But not anymore.  

“I don’t have to push the pedal down to 70 mph to reach those notes anymore,” Urban said.

But apart from his voice issues, Keith says that he also had trouble songwriting. Because of his new voice limits, he began writing music differently, music that was easier for him to sing.  But that too has now changed and he's back to writing the music that is more challenging vocally for him.  

“I already feel that this next album, the thrust and the pull as a songwriter is to talk more about some of my stories, personal stories, beyond my relationship with my wife (actress Nicole Kidman) and subjects that I’ve never really tapped into that much,” Urban said. “So I think getting my voice back has sort of been a metaphor for finding my voice more so as well as an artist, broadening it, really, to the things that I want to write about and I feel ready to write about that I guess I haven’t in recent years.“

Fans will get their chance to hear Keith belt out some great music tomorrow, April 10th, when Keith and friends takes the stage in Nashville for his We're All For The Hall HOF benefit concert.  

{via Washington Post }