by Cindy Watts
Keith Urban took a break from recording his next album on Wednesday morning to celebrate his latest No. 1 song, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16,” at The Rosewall with the song’s writers, Shane McAnally, Ross Copperman and Josh Osborne.
The song is Urban’s 19th No. 1 hit as an artist, Copperman’s sixth as a songwriter, Osborne’s ninth as a songwriter and McAnally’s 15th as a songwriter.
McAnally emailed “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” to Urban so soon after it was written that the singer said it was “hot out of the oven.”
“I’m one of those artists that go, ‘How come that guy got that song?’ ” Urban said. “I’m always wondering how people get the songs, and I became one of those guys who got the song and that was an amazing feeling. Apparently, that’s how it happens. You just have to answer email punctually.”
Urban will perform with John Mellencamp on the Country Music Association Awards, which will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Nov. 4 on ABC. Urban doesn’t know if he and Mellencamp will sing “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” together yet, but joked that if they did, Mellencamp could “just sing ‘Me, John Deere, John 3:16.’ That would be great.”
Urban released his new single, “Break On Me,” earlier this week. Penned by Copperman and Jon Nite, “Break On Me” appealed to Urban because “it was the right blend of simplicity, melody, lyric (and) sentiment.” And he said he’s been fortunate enough to be the guy in the song.
Copperman and Nite wrote the song when Nite’s wife was pregnant, and the singer could relate to lines such as “nights with 2 a.m. calls.”
Urban closed the party by thanking more than a dozen people he credited for helping “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” succeed. He started to say he loved making music more than anything. Then he stopped himself.
“Not more than anything,” he corrected. “I love my wife (actress Nicole Kidman) more than anything in the world and our children. But separate to human beings, I love music more than anything in the world.”
Orginally published Oct. 21, 2015 http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/10/21/keith-urban-writers-celebrate-latest-no-1-rosewall/74352126/