Keith Urban was astonished by the Thanksgiving holiday when he first moved to America.
The Australian-born musician didn’t grow up with Thanksgiving, and he admits he was somewhat taken aback by the American custom the first time he experienced it firsthand.
“The first Thanksgiving I ever had here — which was 25 years ago, ‘cause I’ve been here a long time now — but the first one I ever had, I remember going to this family’s home, they invited me to Thanksgiving, and I couldn’t believe the volume of food. It was insane. I’ve never seen so much food in my life,” Urban recalls.
“Then after the food, there was like 12 desserts. I was like, ‘Why are there so many desserts?’ They said, ‘Well, because every aunt and every grandma, everybody brought their thing, their special dessert, and you have to try every one of ‘em.’
I’m like, ‘There’s like three apple cobblers.’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, but they’re made by different people and they’re all watching, so you have to make sure you try everything up there.'”
Urban’s Thanksgiving will look quite a bit different this year, as it’s the first Thanksgiving he’s spent since he and his wife, Nicole Kidman, announced their divorce in September of 2025.
For all the great Christmas songs out there, there really aren’t all that many about Thanksgiving.
That’s just plain not fair. Turkey Day might get lost in Christmas’ shadow a bit, but it’s still one of the best days of the year: From the food to the family, it’s a holiday that deserves its moment in the spotlight.
That’s why Taste of Country is compiling this list of perfectly nostalgic songs for your Thanksgiving playlist. It’s easy enough to find country music with a theme of gratitude, but we took it a step further.
Each and every song on this list is either about Thanksgiving itself or a food closely associated with the holiday, with one exception. One submission on this list is about family dynamics — something that admittedly isn’t explicitly about the November holiday, but does come up at quite a few Thanksgiving tables each year.
Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak