The only time Brantley Gilbert goes 'Bottoms Up' these days is when he needs to rehydrate with a few cups of water. The singer has given up drinking, sharing that it was Keith Urban who was there for him when he was "down and out."

The two artists have more in common than simply being country artists at the top of their game. Family man Urban is seven years sober, and when he learned that Gilbert was going through a tough time, he was there to be a listening ear and great friend.

“Keith’s actually been a really good dude to me. When I was making changes in my life, I was down and out, I was even in the hospital, and he showed up and spent several hours with me one day out of nowhere, just encouraging me, because I had a lot of worries about doing my job," Gilbert tells Country Countdown USA. "Looking back, I was thinking, since I was 15 years old, I’d been sneaking beers, I hadn’t been sober for a lot of these things, I was nervous about writing, performing, and doing my job like I used to."

Urban understood those worries; he could relate to Gilbert's struggle and encouraged him to welcome his new take on life with open arms.

"He told me, ‘Man it’s a whole new world. It’s different but you’re gonna have a lot more fun with it,’" Gilbert recalls. "He was just uplifting and reassuring, he’s one of those guys when you meet him, you know he has a good soul. He has an awesome heart and is an awesome dude."

Adds the singer, "That was a pretty impressive thing to me. You meet people in the business, and wonder how compassionate they are. But he showed up out of the blue, and I hardly knew the guy. I’ll never forget that as long as I live, and I’m indebted to him now ... for somebody of that stature to take that kind of time.”

Gilbert is coming up on his third anniversary of being sober, and he's happy with his decision and proud of himself for coming this far, saying he prefers to be in control. He assures his fans that although he's sober, he is far from boring.

"I don’t want anybody to think that because I don’t drink that I’m boring. I’m the worst influence in the room," the country bad boy insists. "I drink vicariously through others. I love that atmosphere. I’m to a point now where it’s not for me."

Get UpClose With Brantley Gilbert

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