{"id":7165,"date":"2026-01-18T12:32:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T12:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7165"},"modified":"2026-01-18T12:32:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T12:32:58","slug":"inside-the-unexpected-power-of-his-leonard-cohen-tribute-that-has-fans-calling-it-one-of-his-most-heartfelt-performances-ever-there-are-songs-you-listen-to-casually-and-then-there-are-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7165","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Unexpected Power of His Leonard Cohen Tribute That Has Fans Calling It One of His Most Heartfelt Performances Ever  There are songs you listen to casually \u2014 and then there are songs that arrive at exactly the moment you need them. When Keith Urban took the stage to perform Leonard Cohen\u2019s \u201cHallelujah,\u201d one of the most covered songs in modern music history, no one was quite sure what to expect. But what unfolded wasn\u2019t just another rendition. It was a performance that felt deeply personal, emotionally raw, and unforgettable.  Urban is a musician known for his versatility \u2014 a country star with pop sensibilities, a guitar virtuoso with undeniable polish. But \u201cHallelujah\u201d isn\u2019t about polish. It isn\u2019t about notes hit or falsettos soared. What makes the song so haunting is its ability to reveal something deeper \u2014 a mix of longing, reflection, pain, and beauty that only the most sincere performances can unlock&#8230; WATCH VIDEO BELOW \ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Keith Urban\u00a0stopped a celebratory New Year\u2019s Eve concert in Nashville to celebrate the lives of some of the music legends who died in 2016. Wife Nicole Kidman even joined him on stage to dance along to\u00a0David Bowie\u2019s \u201cHeroes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/townsquare.media\/site\/204\/files\/2017\/01\/Keith-Urban-Ganjo.jpg?w=980&amp;q=75\" alt=\"Keith Urbans New Years Eve Show in Nashville\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\"><\/div>\n<p>The tribute started with Leonard Cohen\u2019s \u201cHallelujah,\u201d before he turned to the\u00a0Eagles\u00a0\u201cTake It Easy,\u201d a tribute to Glen Frey. Kidman surprised her husband on stage next, singing and throwing her arms in the air with abandon as the country singer took lead. Twitter was mixed about the actress\u2019s dance moves, but you can\u2019t argue with her enthusiasm.<\/p>\n<div class=\"in-article-oop-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/01\/01\/07\/3BC00D8300000578-0-image-a-52_1483254071766.jpg\" alt=\"Nicole Kidman dances while Keith Urban as he performs tribute to 2016's fallen greats | Daily Mail Online\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Merle Haggard\u00a0was next, with Kidman still dancing as Urban sang \u201cMama Tried.\u201d The crowd loved this break from his set. It came just five minutes before Nashville\u2019s famous musical note dropped to ring in the new year.\u00a0Appropriately,\u00a0Prince\u2019s \u201cPurple Rain\u201d closed the medley. A rainy night threatened the Music City celebration, but tens of thousands still turned out to be a part of the festivities.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-5\"><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"7 Unforgettable Keith Urban Moments\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/v-2YcIRkHME\" width=\"350\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-origwidth=\"350\" data-origheight=\"235\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>At the end Urban and Kidman embraced and then kissed. She would return to the stage as the countdown began.<\/p>\n<p>Urban\u2019s New Year\u2019s Eve show capped a busy year for the \u201cBlue Ain\u2019t Your Color Singer.\u201d He released his Ripcord album, and took Maren Morris and Brett Eldredge on the Ripcord World Tour all year. Thus far he only has festival dates on his 2017 tour schedule.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/api.photon.aremedia.net.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/AWW\/2017\/01\/02\/30210\/header.jpg?fit=900%2C676\" alt=\"Nicole Kidman dancing along to Keith Urban at a CNN gig\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Saturday night (Dec. 31) wasn\u2019t the first time Urban sang \u201cHallelujah.\u201d During his Nashville tour stop last fall he also performed a short version of the song in tribute to Cohen.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Keith Urban - Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen Cover)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qMHolJ1qJwA?list=RDqMHolJ1qJwA\" width=\"350\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-origwidth=\"350\" data-origheight=\"235\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keith Urban\u00a0stopped a celebratory New Year\u2019s Eve concert in Nashville to celebrate the lives of some of the music legends who died in 2016. Wife Nicole Kidman&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7167,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7165\/revisions\/7167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}