Keith Urban Launching New Men’s Fragrance Called Phoenix

Keith Urban is entering the celebrity scent sweepstakes, launching his very own men's fragrance, dubbed "Phoenix," this September. It's Urban's debut scent. Urban exclusively spoke to fashion and beauty publication Women's Wear Daily about Phoenix, the name of which is a nod to the Hopi Indian thunderbird tattoo that adorns the country superstar's left forearm.

"The thunderbird obviously has close ties to the phoenix -- the symbolism of the phoenix," said Urban. "I've always loved symbolism and mythology, 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 from the ashes even stronger than before. The 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' story of the phoenix is something else that I think fits really well with a man's cologne. Certainly, I can relate very strongly to that -- going through hard times and coming out the other end of it much, much stronger for the experience." Urban is likely referencing his previous battles with substance abuse there, making his cologne that much more impactful,

Urban chose Phoenix as the name for his debut scent not only for the symbolism-rich connotations of the word, but simply because he didn't want to name it after himself. Urban is looking out for his fans by choosing an actual name for the fragrance.

"The last thing I want to make a man do is: When someone asks him what he's wearing is for that poor man to say, 'I'm wearing Keith Urban,'" he said. "That just seems really awkward to me. I wanted to allow a man the dignity to respond with something that is a little more appropriate. Not too hoity-toity, not too chic and metro, something that's got a nice, masculine simplicity to it. I felt Phoenix fit that really well." We're still laughing at the image of a dude saying, "I'm wearing Keith Urban!"

Urban revealed that before he crafted Phoenix, he used to wear classics like Brut and Calvin Klein Escape for Men. Lately, he's upgraded and developed an appreciation for luxe, high-end fragrances, and admits that he has been spritzing colognes by Tom Ford, Dolce and Gabbana and Dior. No wonder wife Nicole Kidman nuzzles up to him all the time.

Urban said he wanted to create a scent that would be both affordable and accessible for his throng of fans. He revealed that listening to AM radio in the '70s helped awaken a sense of appreciation in him for commercial, mass appeal things. "I think that it created a commerciality in me, about the way in which I make music and create," Urban said. "I'm interested in things that have more appeal than to just a couple of people. I think to go from that in the songwriting process wasn’t much of a stretch in the cologne area."

Cologne making: It's just like writing a song for Keith Urban.