Keith Urban to host the 2018 ARIA Awards on Nine
The 32nd Annual ARIA Awards, which will screen on Nine, will be hosted by country music star Keith Urban.
The announcement:
ARIA is thrilled to announce today that Australia’s very own Keith Urban will be returning home to host the 32nd Annual ARIA Awards. It has been over a decade since Urban last graced the ARIAs stage when back in 2007 he joined John Butler for an unforgettable performance.
Urban will host the 2018 ARIA Awards
Urban’s unprecedented history as a multiple ARIA and Grammy Award-winning artist make him the natural choice as host of the 32nd Annual ARIA Awards, a role he is undertaking for the first time.
Keith Urban said, “I’m really looking forward to coming home and celebrating an incredible year of Australian music. There’s been so many impressive releases this year, it’s gonna be a tough competition but we get to recognise and honour the best of the best at Aussie music’s night of nights.”
Earlier this year, Urban’s first studio album in nearly two years GRAFFITI U debuted at #2 on the ARIA Album chart. GRAFFITI U includes the current single “My Wave (featuring Shy Carter)”, as well as previous singles “Parallel Line” and “Coming Home”.
GRAFFITI U features over thirty songwriting, producer and featured guest performance credits, including Greg Wells, Dann Huff, Ed Sheeran, Julia Michaels and more. Michaels will also be joining Urban on the Australian leg of his recently announced GRAFFITI U World Tour Australia, kicking off in Newcastle on 23rd January 2019, before travelling around the east coast.
Urban’s last album, the #1 Platinum selling RIPCORD, was the second highest selling album in Australia in 2016 and spent 27 weeks in the Top 10 and 46 weeks in the Top 20 of the ARIA Albums Chart.
The singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer is no stranger to the ARIA charts with a total of 14 ARIA Platinum-selling singles and albums, earning him a total of five ARIA Awards.
After nine full-length studio albums, Keith Urban has sold millions of albums, songs and tickets worldwide. His success in the US has been stellar, securing 24 career Number Ones in the US, four GRAMMYS®, twelve CMA Awards, eleven ACM Awards, four AMAs, and a People’s Choice Award among his growing list of accolades.
Dan Rosen, Chief Executive for ARIA said: “ARIA is honoured and excited to welcome back superstar Keith Urban to join us in Sydney to celebrate the 2018 ARIAs. To have one of Australia’s biggest stars host this year’s ceremony is just phenomenal. Australian music fans are in for a real treat.”
The 2018 ARIA Awards also sees the return of Swarovski as the ARIA Official Red Carpet Partner.
Victoria Brown, Swarovski Australia’s Marketing Director said: “Following the success of our 2017 inaugural partnership, we are delighted to sponsor the 2018 ARIAs Red Carpet for the second year running. Swarovski’s 123-year heritage is built on groundbreaking collaborations with global artists across the entertainment, fashion, art and music industries from Elvis, Christian Dior and Michael Jackson, to Beyoncé, Christopher Kane and Jean Paul Gaultier. It is fitting that on a local level we celebrate and support the most brilliant Australian talents at the ARIA awards and look forward to another spectacular night”.
Proudly supported by the NSW Government via its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW, the Australian music industry’s biggest night of celebration is set to make a triumphant return to Sydney on Wednesday, 28th November 2018.
NSW Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Adam Marshall said, “Keith Urban is one of Australia’s greatest musical success stories and we are delighted he will host the 32nd annual ARIA Awards in Sydney, further cementing our Harbour City’s reputation as the nation’s music capital.”
Source: ARIA media release
