It was 1983 and despite his technical proficiency on guitar, Urban's strawberry blond mullet and gap-toothed smile made it as cheesy a debut as you would expect.

But during the post-performance feedback, Urban's answers to Bert's questions about wanting to be a radio announcer were telling.

"I think radio announcing would be good publicity for a singer," Urban said.

"I just finished a week of work experience at 4KQ radio station up at Queensland, and I just did a few demo tapes on the radio."

Thirty one years later, the DJ dream has long been surpassed by a country music career almost unparalleled in its success.

His two nominations in the 2014 ARIAs for his seventh studio album Fuse (another number one) are just the latest in a string of awards, including four Grammys.

But it all started humbly in Caboolture, north of Brisbane, where Marienne and Bob Urban moved in 1969 with their sons Shane and Keith.

Keith was just two, and grew up around his father's convenience store, where Bob, a keen amateur drummer, would play Glen Campbell and Dolly Parton records.

When Keith was six, a woman named Sue McCarthy asked Bob Urban if she could place an ad offering music lessons in his shop window. He agreed, but on the condition she teach Keith the guitar. McCarthy (now Sue Crealey), became his first mentor, and is still a family friend.

Keith's precocious talent was soon obvious to all, and at age nine, the family went to the Tamworth Country Music Festival, where Keith won best junior. It was the start of a rash of talent shows and festival performances the young Urban would take part in, right up to that 1983 appearance on New Faces.

Urban was mixing his country sensibilities with a rock sound, signing with EMI in 1990 and releasing an album. Slim Dusty became a mentor when Urban supported him on tour in 1993 and 1994, the pair even recording a duet of Dusty's classic Lights on the Hill.

Despite making inroads into Australia's country music scene, the call of Nashville had been too strong, and in 1992 he had jetted off to the USA. He would discover his particular brand of country/rock would take a while to break through, and drugs and alcohol became a part of his coping strategy.

Urban would later describe himself as a "functional substance abuser" during this time - even when his first Nashville band, The Ranch, signed with Capitol Records and released an album to commercial acclaim in 1997. Urban decided to launch a solo career, but it was only after a stint in rehab in 1998, and the support of his family, that he was able to focus on what was about to become an explosive career.

By 2001 Urban had made it big, with his single But for the Grace of God, from his self-titled debut album, becoming his first number 1 on the country charts. That year he won Top New Male Vocalist Award at Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association's Horizon Award.

His career continued to rocket, and in 2005 he met his greatest supporter and champion, Nicole Kidman. The pair hit it off at a G'Day LA function, and were married in Sydney in June 2006, with Urban's brother Shane acting as his best man.

It was Kidman who Urban credits as getting him through one of the most painful times in his life - his relapse into alcoholism.

She rushed back from promoting a film to be by his side after he checked himself into the Betty Ford Clinic in October 2006.

His stay lasted three months, and forced Capitol Records to cancel a swathe of appearances to support his latest album, Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing.

President Mike Dungan later said: "It was not anything that anyone would wish for in a business sense but those things don't wait, if they're going to happen they're going to happen.

"Keith is a smart guy, he had something he had to deal with and he had to deal with it at that exact moment."

After he recovered, Kidman told Vanity Fair: "I've learned an enormous amount having a relationship with someone who is in recovery.

"I'm more than willing to walk it with him."

In return, it's a rare performance in which Urban does not dedicate a song to his wife.

The pair had two daughters, Sunday Rose in 2008 and Faith Margaret in 2011. The latter was born with the assistance of a surrogate, with Urban posting his gratitude for their support online after the birth.

"Our family is truly blessed, and just so thankful, to have been given the gift of baby Faith Margaret. No words can adequately convey the incredible gratitude that we feel for everyone who was so supportive throughout this process, in particular our gestational carrier."

Urban and Kidman enjoyed a close relationship with both sets of parents; a bond demonstrated by the recent sudden tragic death of Dr Anthony Kidman, Nicole's father.

The pair sang at his Sydney funeral in September, and Urban was a coffin bearer.

Kidman told MamaMia: "I'm incredibly fortunate that I've managed to find an extraordinary man in Keith.

"He has been such a rock for me, through everything."

Urban's Brisbane concerts are always sold out, with crowds eager to sing along to each and every song. His delight in playing in his home town is obvious, with local references peppered throughout the show. It's a palpable demonstration of his loyalty to a city that has grown in its appreciation of country music to match the skill and talent of one of its most famous sons.

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