Keith Urban once appeared in Playgirl Magazine, and he’ll play coy, but he’s got a sense of humor when it’s brought up so many years later.

During a chat with Rob Lowe on the Literally! with Rob Lowe podcast, the actor was armed with this detail of the country star’s past. Initially, Urban pretended he was too shy to talk about it, joking that he didn’t understand why folks would want to see men in their birthday suits when Playboy exists.

Urban’s Playgirl issue hit stands in April of 2001 — more than 20 years ago, when the now-star was still an up-and-comer in mainstream Nashville. He’d only released his self-titled album, and he wouldn’t have a No. 1 hit on country radio until the following year (2002’s “Somebody Like You.”).

So, as Urban recalls, he was willing to try just about anything to get that engine running.

Related: Did You Know Keith Urban Was Once in a Metal Band?

“[It was] a guy at my record company who was like, ‘Hey, you know, we can do this article in Playgirl and they’ll do a big, long, nice piece on the record,'” he recalls being told, “and I was like, ‘Great,’ and then [he said], ‘We’ll go do a photoshoot too.’”

That stopped him in his tracks, though he agreed to do it anyway.

“Luckily, I play guitar and not harmonica,” he jokes now.

He did wear a carefully positioned thong for the shoot.

Fortunately, his, uh, hard work has paid off — he’s gone on to chart dozens of No. 1 hits and is one of country music’s most reliable stars.

Also in his interview with Lowe, Urban talks about making the move from Australia to Nashville and the highlight of passing through Memphis for the first time. He says he was thinking, “That is where Elvis is from!”

Urban’s new album is High (Sept. 2024).