Keith Urban Dishes on ‘Extraordinary’ Taylor Swift and His Ariana Grande ‘Obsession’ (Exclusive)

Urban tells PEOPLE that Grande’s new single “We Can’t Be Friends” has “some real celestial magic”

 

Left to right: Keith Urban; Taylor Swift; Ariana Grande. PHOTO: TAYLOR HILL/WIREIMAGE; VALERIE MACON/AFP VIA GETTY; RODIN ECKENROTH/GETTY

Keith Urban has nothing to say about Taylor Swift — and that’s a massive compliment.

The country singer, who spoke with PEOPLE after announcing his latest Las Vegas residency run, has long been a Swift fan. However, he’s just run out of superlatives for the “So High School” singer after the release of her The Tortured Poets Department album.

“I mean, God, Taylor’s songwriting, it’s so extraordinary. There’s really no adjectives for it,” Urban, 56, tells PEOPLE. “She’s such a great, great writer. So this new album is just more proof of that in really great ways.”

Taylor Swift and Keith Urban in Las Vegas in April 2013. CHRIS POLK/GETTY
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While Urban has been listening to Swift’s latest creation, he’s been really binging on Ariana Grande’s latest single, “We Can’t Be Friends,” equating it to a drug.

“I don’t know what is going on with that song, but I cannot stop playing it. It’s like audible heroin. Literally, I have to have another hit,” he said. “I play that thing over and over and over.”

Luckily for Urban, he saw Grande perform “We Can’t Be Friends” at the Met Gala on May 6, which he attended with his wife, Nicole Kidman.

Grande’s song, which was released in March, has “some real celestial magic,” Urban said, adding, “That’s my absolute current obsession song right now.”

His daughters, Sunday, 15, and Faith, 13, weren’t even the ones to turn him onto Grande’s song either.

“I’ve always liked Ariana anyway,” Urban tells PEOPLE. “She doesn’t sound like anyone. It’s like Taylor. I like singers that you know their voice immediately, and there’s a lot of other singers that sound like them, but they don’t sound like anyone.”

Urban adds, “Ariana has always had that unique vocal gift. On top of that, she’s a phenomenal writer and producer. So it was easy for me to stumble upon that new album. I was interested in it before it came out.”

 

Keith Urban in Austin in April 2024.JOHN SHEARER/GETTY

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Urban has a new song of his own out as well, having released “Go Home W U” featuring Lainey Wilson last Friday. That song and many others will certainly be featured in Urban’s just-announced 10-show Las Vegas residency, dubbed “High,” at Fontainebleau’s BleuLive Theater.

”Go Home W U” is the third single he’s released from this forthcoming album.

“I’ve got a lot of relief from getting new music out and really excited for the rest to come out,” he says.

Urban is scheduled to perform at Fontainebleau’s BleuLive Theater on Oct. 4, 5, 9, 11, and 12; Feb. 14, 15, 19, 21, and 22