'It's Shady!': Keith Urban Gets Backlash for Saying He 'Loves' That Miley Cyrus' Singing Voice 'Sounds Like an Ashtray'
Keith Urban's comments about Miley Cyrus' singing voice ruffled feathers.
The dad-of-two mentioned the "Wrecking Ball" crooner during a recent appearance on the Australian radio show Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie, where he performed a rendition of her Grammy-winning tune "Flowers."
"I love that voice, man, that voice. She sounds like an ashtray," the country star, 56, shared of Cyrus. "And I mean that as a compliment. She sounds like the carpet at the RSL!"
Fans had mixed reactions to his words, with one person tweeting, "That’s quite a strange way to compliment someone! Wonder what he meant by that."
"That’s not a compliment, it’s SHADY! & this is why I don’t joke around with people because they be really telling [sic] you how they truly feel!" another individual stated.
"While harsh, it is the perfect description of Miley's voice and it works," expressed a third. "I love her voice."
Urban has shared his admiration for the Disney Channel alum, 31, in the past, noting in a 2019 interview that he "loved" her album She Is Coming.
"It's so crazy. It is its own thing! I can't label it, which always suits me. I love when I can't figure out what's going on. There's no genre. It's got its own sounds, it's own structure," he raved. "I really like it."
The Hannah Montana alum's voice and aesthetic has continued to change over the years, something she joked about when she accepted a Disney Legends award last month.
"In 2005, Disney was on a mission to rebuild and reimagine the company — that’s why they hired [Disney CEO] Bob Iger and me," Cyrus quipped in her speech.
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"It’s rumored they create all of us Disney kids…I definitely wasn’t created in a lab, but if I was, there must’ve been a bug in the system which caused me to malfunction somewhere between the years of 2013-16," the vocalist joked, referring to when she released her album Bangerz and became known for twerking and wearing skin-baring outfits.
In 2017, the singer-actress admitted she grew tired of people wanting her to always push the envelope.
"It became something that was expected of me. I didn't want to show up to photo shoots and be the girl who would get my [t---] out and stick out my tongue," she spilled to Harper's Bazaar. "In the beginning, it was kind of like saying, '[Screw] you. Girls should be able to have this freedom or whatever.' But it got to a point where I did feel sexualized."
"Even at the Met Gala, everyone had their b---- out, everyone had their a-- out, so what’s punk about that now? It’s more punk actually for me to not," Cyrus continued.
"I think I show people that they can be themselves," she said. "I also think something that has been important for me, in this next little, like, transition phase of my career is that I don’t give a f--- about being cool. I just want to be myself."
People reported on Urban's comments.