Keith Urban Fans Shoot to Save Lives
You know those Keith Urban fans who come into every concert armed with big cameras and even bigger lenses? It may look like they're just hard at work on their own private galleries of Urban photographs. But a few lucky ones are actually hard at work on a much more philanthropic project: the Keith Urban calendar.
It started back in 2002 when Urban called on his fan club members to help him raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Two of those fans, Amy Stang and Natalie Williams, came up with the idea to enlist Urban fans to submit photos they'd taken of the saucy Aussie. From that collection, a 2003 calendar was born. That was six years ago, and now the seventh edition is ready to go.
The 2009 calendar features 60 of the best shots culled from well over 600 fan submissions. So you could feasibly spend January through December of next year admiring Urban not only for his scruffy charm and ganjo/guitar/piano chops, but for his good heart.
The thing about St. Jude that makes it such a worthy cause is that it's the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. Never. And no one is ever denied treatment just because they can't afford it. That level of care wouldn't be possible without projects like this one. (In 2005 alone, the calendar effort raised more
than $80,000 for the hospital.)
The 2009 calendars will ship around Nov. 10, 2008, making it a perfect holiday gift for you and for all the other country fans on your shopping list. You can get it for just $15 at www.keithurban.net and www.keithurbanfans.net or by calling 1-800-886-3656. Then come January, you'll already be making good on your resolutions to give generously, put children first and love Keith Urban.
©2008 Country Music Television, Inc., a Viacom company. A division of
Sarah says:
im so glad keith does this year after year. it just goes to show you that keith is as beautiful on the inside as he is on the outside.
the calendar is awesome! i got it for Christmas before & loved it!
Ms. Feathers says:
It’s beautiful every year - not just for the photos, but for the philanthropy. Congrats to all those in the Urbanite photo-posse who had their pics chosen!!
Savvy says:
This is such a nice gesture Keith does year after year. I am very proud to be an Urbanite!!
Ashleigh says:
I am going to get it for christmas the calender I can’t wait to get it !!!!
MiaT says:
I Love that he has done this for the hospital. It raises so much money for those families. I am sure it is much needed since with this economy donations are bound to be lower.
Great job Mr. Urban!
BigMouth says:
That’s the worst part. Hope everyone tries to reach out. The calender always looks good.
MR says:
I am donating more because of that reason. This will be first year I am ordering this calander.
Kathy says:
Actually, there are no professional style cameras allowed at Keith’s shows - so all of those photos are taken with simple digital cameras!
And what a wonderful philanthropic effort - the fans get the beautiful calendar, and St. Jude’s gets the proceeds!
gwl says:
I have not heard of this! I will order a calendar!!
Kell says:
These are always great calendars and for such a GREAT cause! I love it!
BeaH says:
I’ve purchased these calendars since the beginning. I get at least two each year, one for home and one for my office. They are great and they do make a fun and practical gift. It’s a wonderful cause and I get to look at Keith every day. I’m proud to be an Urbanite!
Stevie M says:
Where can we see pictures of the inside? I like to know what I am getting for my money and I need to see how many months there are in it.
Ms. Feathers says:
StevieM - You will NOT be disappointed!!! The fans who take these photos may have “point-n-shoot” cameras (not SLR where the lenses come off), but they are EXTREMELY high quality photos. There are always fantastic pics of Keith playing, singing, smiling, and doing his thing on stage.
You can go to the “keith urban fans dot com” site and see the front and back covers of the calendar (the front is as above, the back has small pics of each month’s collage), but if it’s as good as the 2008 calendar, you’ll find 4-5 fantastic pics of Keith on each page. Sometimes the designers do some fun things with effects and cropping, but there’s NO DOUBT you’ll LOVE it!!!
gloria says:
I buy a calendar every year and they are wonderful and not to mention it goes to a very worthy cause. One of the first times I ever saw Keith was when a friend of my daughters got us tickets to see Keith at Max It Out…another worthy cause. This was a benefit that Keith hosted for several years. Max was the son of his trainer I believe that had developed a crippling disease. Well all of this, plus some fantastic music made me a HUGE Keith Urban fan.
Portia says:
i think some of the others artist shoudl do this. maybe they don’t HAVE TO donate to charity, although its nice. but take fan photos and make a calendar, thats a FANtastic idea!