Keith Urban says that growing up in Australia, it felt like Olivia Newton-John was a part of his life forever. In those days, he certainly had no idea what role the woman who sang “Physical” and played Sandy in Grease would have in helping him find his forever love, Nicole Kidman.

He didn’t just describe the late singer and actor as a superstar.

“I would say more iconic,” Urban shared.

Urban’s career began to take shape about 25 years after Newton-John became the first Aussie to win a CMA Award in 1974, and they became close friends a few years later.

“She was there the night I met my wife,” Urban told Taste of Country in 2022. “That has a lot of importance to both of us.”

The origins of Urban’s friendship with Newton-John date back to the early 2000s, when they wrote a song called “Sunburned Country” together. Per the Boot, the duet appeared on a 2002 album released only in Australia. It would later appear on her A Celebration of Song album in 2008.

“I was then going to be honored at this event in Los Angeles, which turned out to be an event that my future wife was going to be honored at, as well,” Urban explained, referring to the G’Day USA gala in January 2005. “And you can choose somebody to do your introduction at this event, and I asked Olivia if she would do my introduction.”

On January 15, 2005, Urban — with Newton-John in his corner — was in a room with Kidman for the first time. Both would later admit there was instant chemistry, and they’d soon begin dating. Kidman and Urban married on June 25, 2006.

“Livvie brought the most divine light into the world,” the couple remarked jointly after learning of Newton-John’s death. “So much love, joy, inspiration and kindness … and we will always be hopelessly devoted to you.”

Olivia Newton-John died on Aug. 8, 2022, after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Billy Dukes is a Senior Editor and Executive Producer of Video Content at Taste of Country. He specializes in country music interviews, trend analysis and the Secret History of Country Music. Additionally, Billy covers Yellowstone, 1923 and related television shows through the Dutton Rules podcast. To date, he’s written more than 13,000 articles for Taste of Country and produced over 3,000 videos for the Taste of Country YouTube channel.