Keith Urban: Thank you all. God, I love that movie.

I’m going to talk a little bit about a particular vision I’ve had of Nic for a long time, but I’ll start with the fact that we met in January of 2005. They were honoring us at an event called G’Day LA, which sounds a bit like a Crocodile Dundee pickup line.

We chatted very briefly. I was trying to maintain my composure, but inside I felt like I had crashed a real ball. Simply because Nic had a truly otherworldly aura. And I felt a little like I was meeting a real-life princess. And many of you can relate to that.

Despite all that, I managed to get a phone number on a small piece of paper, and I carried that number in my pocket for over a week. I would take it out and look at it, put it back in my pocket.

I was scared, nervous to call her, and although at the time I might have been prone to all kinds of delusional thoughts, not even I could think that this extraordinary woman would see anything in a guy like me. And I’m not being humble. That’s literally how I saw myself and her.

As you probably already imagined, I mustered up the courage to finally call her. We started talking and we just talked and talked as if we had known each other all our lives.

It turned out that this mystical creature was really just a lively girl, with eyes full of life and joy, from suburban Sydney and, despite being born in Honolulu, she was completely Australian from head to toe.

Everyone speaking here tonight is going to talk about Nic’s talent, and I could easily do the same. I mean, she really is one of the best, like Russell Crowe said. And tonight she proves it. Not only am I a biased husband, but I want to take the opportunity to talk about Nic’s heart and spirit.

We got married in June 2006 and just four months into our marriage, my addictions, which I had done nothing about, tore our marriage apart and I went to the Betty Ford Center for three months. Four months after we got married, I’m in rehab for three months with no idea what was going to happen to us.

And if you want to see what love looks like in action, give it a try. Nic overcame all the negative voices, I’m sure even some of his own. And she chose love. And here we are tonight, 18 years later.

But that’s the thing with Nic. She loves life. She loves, loves, and she loves life. I have never met someone who has such a passion for being alive. It’s got a bit of “ready, fire, aim” in it. Thank God, because she’s so much fun to be around.

Because anything can happen at any time. She is infinitely curious. She dives in head first and forges ahead with little to no thought of the consequences. Perfect. She is so pure in all the right ways.

And she has also preserved her inner child beautifully. Admirably. Consequently, Nic is not disappointed. She is not cynical. She is definitely not complacent. And she’s not afraid to be afraid.

I say this professionally and also personally. If something, someone, some story speaks to her in some way, she wants to explore it. So even her movie choices often have a zigzag pattern.

She is fine. I’m going to tell you an acting story about Nic, and it has to do with the first time I was on a set. She had never been on a set before. I’m on a set. Nic is filming. She is on the street.

And in the scene, she has to watch her son get hit by a car. So I’m in catering. I hear a primal maternal wail, and I run towards her before realizing that it’s not actually happening.

But every fiber of my body, every part of me believed it was real. It was disturbing. And I still feel a little disturbed by it right now. I mean, because Nic, I’ve always said this about her. She doesn’t act. She agrees. She portals emotionally, mentally and physically, and her eyes, man, those eyes on the camera, can tell a whole story without saying a word.

When it comes to our family, Nic is an incredible communicator. She was the first person I met who literally says things like, “Are you venting or asking for my opinion? How does that make you feel? Do you want my help? How can I help you?” But one of the things people don’t know about Nic is that when I met her, she was living in New York all alone in a rented apartment in Chelsea.

And she told me things like, “I don’t need anyone. I can take care of myself.” I had to overcome all of that to let her know that she didn’t have to do it alone anymore. Nick. I’m here and I’m going to love you through everything. And I mean everything. Even the ups and downs of a long career.

Anyone in the room tonight who has had a long career or is having a long career knows exactly what I’m talking about. Trust in For me, those ups and downs can come with some really dark energy in those dreaded 3 a.m. feelings of total failure.

We have also navigated the deep pain together with the loss of our parents, but also the joys of births and now raising a family. Our two girls, Sunny and Faith, are here tonight.

And I get to see Nic being a mother. She is one of the most beautiful things. She is so loving and we both come from very close-knit family units of four, so we try to do the same with our girls, maintaining a little unity wherever we are.

We make homes on filming locations all over the world, from Bowen, Queensland, Australia, when we were filming with Baz there, to Marrakech, Morocco, and wherever we are, Nic always finds a way to get our girls to school, much to his chagrin at times.

But the thing about it is that it’s not just about learning, it’s also social. Having friends, she knows the importance of expressing feelings too. She’s very, very good at it. I wasn’t raised like that at all. So our girls are very lucky to be learning from you, darling. I’m learning too.

I heard a phrase years ago that said that we are all spiritual beings having a human experience. That’s Nic at face value. A Gemini with duality to prove it. She is raw, but resilient.

She is serious and a complete clown. Incredibly fun to be around. She is an excellent organizer and is super calm, but she also has a bit of a mantra and that is “choose love.” And I’ve seen her do this many times, navigating the emotionally complex things she’s been through with so many people.

She always chooses that phrase. She lives for her. She chooses love. She has a capacity to love like no one she has ever met. And I know that tonight is about her body of work so far. Until now, honey. But next year it will be 20 years that I have been madly in love with you. Congratulations darling. I love you.

video