Keith Urban Talks CMAs, Calls Four Nominations 'Gratifying'

The nominations are in and Keith Urban is a contender for Album of the Year thanks to his chart-topping Fuse album.

As reported by Rolling Stone, Urban calls the nomination "really gratifying," as he stepped out of his normal creative process while putting the album together.

"It took about a year and a half to make this," he told the magazine. "I really threw myself into uncharted territory, with predominantly people I've never worked with before, studios I've never worked in, songs by people I've never cut songs by ... The support from my record label was extraordinary, too. Capitol Records worked insanely hard on this and also gave me the time to make the record I needed to make — and that doesn't happen for every artist. The nomination is a testament to them, as well."

As previously reported, Urban is also nominated in the Male Vocalist, Musical Event (for "We Were Us") and Entertainer of the Year categories.

Urban went on to say that the success of his 2013-2014 Light the Fuse tour had to have played a part in his nomination for Entertainer of the Year.

"I could feel it in the audience, it was different than any tour we've done," Urban said. "Then the record came out and I was watching songs off Fuse start to connect with everyone — even the album tracks and potential singles that weren't singles yet. It was an extraordinary feeling."

The singer from Down Under last won the CMA's Entertainer of the Year trophy in 2005. With all of his personal growth, this win would most certainly serve as a milestone in his career.

"I've been sober eight years, and the presence of being on stage is exponentially different in every way," Urban explained. "And the sense of purpose, too ... I've always loved playing live, but now the details of the show are even more important ... making sure the person the very farthest [from the stage] connects as much as the person right in front of us. It's also fun to be among the crowd, both literally and figuratively, and connect with everybody. That's all we're there for — to connect with everyone and connect them together through the music. If we do that, we've done our jobs and we move on to the next town."

View the full list of CMA nominees here.

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Keith Urban, CMA Awards