Keith Urban has been in the headlines lately. His shocking split with actress Nicole Kidman caught many off-guard. Fans were puzzled and asking questions. But there have been other, more positive things happening for the popular artist, too. His singing competition TV show, The Road, debuted on October 19. And he was gifted with a beautiful, one-of-a-kind guitar by Chase Matthew.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Urban, 58, was moved to tears by the extremely generous present. Per Country Now, the instrument was a "both a thank you for having him on tour this year and a celebration of his birthday." Urban turned 58 on October 26.
A Video About the Guitar Was Shown to Urban
Matthew expressed his immense appreciation to Urban without hesitation. Per the outlet, "Thank you so much for having us this year. Dude, we've learned so much from watching you and your team and they've been so awesome and taking us to Australia with you. These are places we never thought we would ever be in our entire lives."
Then the lights were doused. A video that is posted on Instagram about the guitar was played for the singer, who watched quietly. His tears came freely.. The artist then described himself and his splendid creation. He previously did custom instruments for Post Malone and Jelly Roll.
Artist Sam Mangakahia Described Himself and His Masterpiece
Per the outlet via Instagram, he said, "My name is Sam Mangakahia. I thought I'd give a bit of background on the artist behind this gift that your friends put together for you that I'm very excited to share more about. Again, Sam from the North Shore of Oahu. I actually grew up in Brisbane, Australia, and I've been out here for 10 years. It's incredible. I'm a cultural artist and I tell stories through design that empower people to live true to their values. And this piece, I've titled 'The Rise of Phoenix."
He explained this. "It covers a lot of different things and it touches on your family, things that are important to you, your music, polarity in design, culture where you grew up, it's all kind of wrapped up in this...design that have annotated that you can read through carefully when you have time."
Mangakahia concluded the video with this final thought. "I can't wait to see this guitar out in the wild. If that means on stage or in the studio, whatever it may be. I just hope that you can use this and love this thing...I'm excited for you to have this in your hands. And big shout out to the crew. It's on a Gibson. I hope you love it. Aloha, Sam."
What the Phoenix Means to Urban
Urban sports a tattoo of a phoenix. Per the outlet via Women's Wear Daily, he talked at an earlier time about the symbol. "The symbolism of the phoenix being something that succumbs to the challenges and burns in the fire, but then is resurrected from the ashes and rises up even stronger than before...The 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' story of the phoenix ... I can relate very strongly to that, going through hard times and coming out the other end of it much stronger for the experience."
Urban Truly Loved the Gift
He seemed overwhelmed and completely thrilled with the stunning personalized guitar. In fact Urban said, "Oh my gosh. It's breathtaking. It truly is. I've never seen anything like this. It is just exquisite."
Urban then took a moment to say thanks to everyone for making his just-finished High and Alive Tour so successful.
"I thank you to all of you guys for just bringing the right spirit. That's all it is. We're not rocket scientists. We're just trying to bring some joy, some hopes and levity and some light to people...It's been an honor to have you guys out on the road with us. Really grateful that you want to do it. So thank you, all of you. Thank you."
