Keith Urban Performing on Idol - H 2014
FOXKeith Urban has lost his dad to cancer.
The Australia-raised country rocker has revealed his father, Robert, died on Saturday (Dec. 5) at a hospice just days after entering the facility.
“I’ve been deeply touched by the outpouring of love and support that Nic and I, and our family, have received since my dad’s passing on Saturday night,” Urban said in a statement to Us Weekly. “His long battle with cancer is now over and he is finally at peace.”
The American Idol judge adds, “My dad’s love of country music and America set me on my life’s journey, and shaped so much of who I am today. Thank you to everyone who has kept us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
It’s the second tragedy to hit Urban’s family in successive years. His wife Nicole Kidman’s father, the clinical psychologist Antony Kidman, died in September 2014 after suffering a fall at a Singapore hotel. He was 76.
Urban disclosed the failing health of his father last Wednesday (Dec. 2) when he attended the opening of his new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
This article was originally published on Billboard.com.
