Keith Urban Tunes Into the 2020 CMA Awards From Australia to Perform ‘God Whispered Your Name’
Keith Urban may have been in his home country of Australia on Wednesday night (Nov. 11), but that didn't stop him for appearing virtually at the 2020 CMA Awards to perform his single, "God Whispered Your Name."
Seated on a stool and bathed in a cool, aquatic lighting setup, Urban performed the song with nothing more than an acoustic guitar. But before he kicked it off, he paid tribute to and dedicated the song to all the frontline healthcare workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. What followed was an impassioned, stripped-down version of "God Whispered Your Name."
"This song is about finding a light," Urban said of his recent single.
He first put out "God Whispered Your Name," a starry-eyed tribute to finding redemption in a lover, as the leading single off of his September 2020 studio album, The Speed of Now Part 1. The singer and his wife, actor Nicole Kidman, have been spending a lot of their time in Australia throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, though he did make a stop back in Nashville to host the 2020 ACM Awards earlier in the fall.
In addition to his performing gig at the 2020 CMAs, Urban was tuning in virtually as a nominee, too. He notched mentions in three categories this year, including Musical Event of the Year for his participation in Thomas Rhett's "Be a Light" — another song performed at Wednesday night's ceremony, though Urban's virtual presence meant he had to sit that performance out.
The singer was also up in the categories of Male Vocalist of the Year and the top award of the night, Entertainer of the Year. He previously took home the trophy in 2018 and is the category's only nominee in 2020 to have won the award in the past. A win from anyone else who's nominated would mean a first for that artist; Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Luke Combs were all in the running.