Keith Urban Finishes Rehab, Plans Tour
Country singer Keith Urban has completed his treatment for alcohol abuse and will ease back onto stage with a short run of club shows in the United Kingdom and Germany in April, his spokesman said Tuesday.
The shows will launch Urban's world tour in support of his latest album, "Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing," Urban's rep, Paul Freundlich, announced Tuesday.
Freundlich, told The ShowBuzz Tuesday that Urban will fly to Germany on Thursday for an appearance on the TV show "Wetten, Dass..?"
Urban, 39, sought treatment just before the album came out in November, forcing him to delay the tour and several TV appearances.
"I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones that love and support me," he said in the statement released at the time.Photos: Nicole & Keith's Nuptials
Freundlich said Urban finished rehab over the weekend and will go to Germany this week for promotional appearances.
The tour dates are still being finalized, but after the club shows he will play arenas in Australia in May and in the U.S. and Canada in June.
Last week a newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, reported that Urban is planning a world tour in April or May.
Despite Urban's absence for promotion, the album reached No. 1 on the country chart and spawned the hit singles "Once in a Lifetime" and "Stupid Boy."
The Australian-reared singer and actress Nicole Kidman were married in Sydney in June. The couple then moved to Nashville, where he records.
In early December, there were rumors that the singer had left rehab, but his publicist they were not true. "At this stage in (Keith's) treatment, patients are occasionally allowed to leave for short periods of time," said his rep. "Keith is not out of rehab and is not back home in Nashville — this is completely inaccurate. He is still undergoing treatment."
Urban and Kidman were seen together in Australia in late December, and Freundlich said then that Urban was on leave to be with his family during the holidays.