Embracing country music, Keith Urban spent over 30 years traveling the world and working with stars like Dolly Parton, Carried Underwood, Eric Church, and even Reba McEntire. Outside of his collaboration, the singer released 13 studio albums and even offered his voice to films like Back to the Outback. Having won numerous awards including four Grammys, Urban recently discussed his teenage years and how he failed music class in high school.

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Appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Urban seemed right at home as he and Clarkson discussed a wide range of topics. But nothing shocked the audience more than when the country singer pointed to his troubles in high school. Most can remember what it was like to attend high school and the whirlwind that comes with graduating. But for Urban, he nearly missed out on graduating due to music.

When asked to share an important teacher in his past, Urban pointed to his music teacher. He explained, “Oh my gosh. Mrs. Grimmer… She was my music teacher in 10th grade, and she was an amazing teacher. I can’t read music, and a lot of the kids in the class couldn’t read music [and] didn’t have any theory but were amazing musicians.”

Keith Urban Still Failed Music Class

Not the only one going to fail the class, Mrs. Grimmer looked to help out more than Urban with a special performance. “We were all gonna fail music because it was all theory-based. She wrote an entire play for us to perform, and we were gonna be graded on the play and the performance. Everybody did it.”

Although coming together to put on the play, Urban and the other students learned that the performance was not going to help them. He revealed that near the end of the year, the school principal noted that the play was not part of the approved curriculum. With no other options to help him pass the class, Urban said he “completely failed” music.

Thankfully, Urban continued to chase his dreams of being a singer. And while he struggled when it came to music class, the country star now stands on top of country music.