Keith Urban Covers Ariana Grande’s ‘We Can’t Be Friends’: ‘It’s Like Audible Heroin’

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Keith Urban at the iHeartCountry Music Festival on May 4, 2024 in Austin, Texas.  - Credit: Amy E. Price/Getty Images
Keith Urban at the iHeartCountry Music Festival on May 4, 2024 in Austin, Texas. - Credit: Amy E. Price/Getty Images

Ariana Grande’s latest Eternal Sunshine single “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” has Keith Urban eternally obsessed. Earlier this week, the Australian musician performed an acoustic set in a small club and added a stripped-back version of the song to his set list. “This song is audible heroin,” he captioned a snippet of the performance on X (formerly Twitter).

Urban shared similar praise for “We Can’t Be Friends” earlier this month. “I don’t know what is going on with that song, but I cannot stop playing it,” he told People. “It’s like audible heroin. Literally, I have to have another hit. I play that thing over and over and over.” Grande recently performed the single for the first time since she first debuted it on Saturday Night Live at the 2024 Met Gala, which Urban attended with wife Nicole Kidman.

Grande produced “We Can’t Be Friends” alongside Max Martin and Ilya, creating what Urban referred to as “some real celestial magic.” Speaking about his “absolute current obsession song right now,” the musician added: “Ariana has always had that unique vocal gift. On top of that, she’s a phenomenal writer and producer. So it was easy for me to stumble upon that new album. I was interested in it before it came out.”

Eternal Sunshine arrived in March as a concise and effective addition to Grande’s discography. Celebrating the success and response to her seventh studio album, the singer shared an emotional note on Instagram.

“It’s impossible to put into words what I’ve been feeling this week. This album is most special to me for many reasons and just holds so much,” she wrote. “Sharing it has re-opened a lot of little and big feelings alike and it has been an emotional week in many ways,” Grande continued. “But your overwhelmingly loving response to it all has made me feel such joyful, human connection and comfort. Just wanted to say I love and appreciate you all more than one can say.”

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