KEITH URBAN FELT LIKE HE WAS DROWNING

KEITH URBAN

Australian country music star Keith Urban spoke of feeling as if he was drowning in the days before he entered a rehabilitation centre for alcohol abuse.But Urban, who married actor Nicole Kidman in Sydney in June, also advised people struggling with addiction and sobriety to communicate with the people in their lives. The singer was speaking to men's magazine Best Life in the couple's home town of Nashville, Tennessee, 2½ weeks before he entered rehab last month.The Grammy-winning singer, who has publicly acknowledged a former addiction to cocaine, says his advice for souls at sea is to "stay communicating with the people around you". "Everybody gets overwhelmed at points, but it's when you think you can handle it yourself and you don't reach out for help - that is when the end is near," Urban says in the magazine. "Recognise that you are about to tire, that drowning is looming." He adds: "I've definitely been the drowning guy, and in the midst of drowning, thought, 'I wonder if I should put my hand up?' ... I'm just really grateful to be present and doing what I can. And if it overwhelms me, I speak out and say, 'There is too much going on.' " Urban won male vocalist of the year for the second year in a row at the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville on Monday night, although he did not attend the ceremony. His award was accepted by Ronnie Dunn, who read a letter from Urban in which he thanked his friends and family and Kidman. "I'm looking forward to coming home and seeing you all soon," Urban said in the letter. His new CD, Love, Pain, & the whole crazy thing, was released this week as scheduled, but it was announced last month that he would postpone all upcoming promotional appearances.Urban won a Grammy this year for best male country vocal performance for You'll Think of Me.