Keith Urban is opening up about the role the late Olivia Newton-John played in his life and career.

“Olivia’s one of those people that for so many Australians, particularly, has just always been part of the fabric of life, you know?,” he shares. “She was there in the 70s and kinda has just been there, for all of my life it feels like she’s been there.”

He says he first met her at a songwriters’ retreat, noting, “I was a bit of a fanboy,” adding, “she couldn’t have been more down-to-earth, kind, friendly, warm, funny, everything I thought she would be, she was exactly that.”

Keith also shares that Olivia was there the night he first met wife Nicole Kidman, as they were both being honored for being Australians who had done well in America and Olivia was on hand to introduce him. “I asked Olivia if she would do it for me, so she was the person who introduced me that night, that fateful night when I met my wife,” he says. “So, she also plays that very special role in our past, as well.”

Source: Keith Urban