Watch Keith Urban's Emotional, Cross-Genre Cover Of Pop Artist's Hit Single

Keith Urban shared his acoustic rendition of Ariana Grande ’s “we can’t be friends” on Instagram on Monday evening (August 12).

Grande released the song on her seventh full-length studio album, Eternal Sunshine , earlier this year. The project was Grande’s first new album in more than three years. Eternal Sunshine also included “yes, and?,” “the boy is mine” and more. Urban shared a one-minute clip of his “we can’t be friends” cover during a live performance in mid-May. He said at that time that Grande’s song “is audible heroin.”

Urban appeared to record a version of the song in the video he shared on Monday, which has since garnered comments from Instagram users praising the performance — including fellow singer-songwriters Ashley Monroe , Runaway June ’s Natalie Stovall and Little Big Town ’s Karen Fairchild — and requesting that he “release this cover as a single.”

The rendition of “we can’t be friends” arrives as Urban is getting ready to release his 12-track studio album, HIGH , adding to a lengthy list of career-spanning hits . So far, Urban has released “Straight Line,” “Messed Up As Me,” “Wildside,” “Go Home W U” with Lainey Wilson , and “Heart Like a Hometown.” Urban, gearing up for a run of shows in Las Vegas , previously said HIGH is “the result of a prior record I started in 2022. It’s 40 minutes top to bottom, and is completely expressive, true, honest and is so much more of what I actually wanted to say when making that scrapped record. I hope these songs bring you joy, levity, some new understanding, energy, and escape!” The album will arrive on September 20.

Urban is one of many artists taking the stage at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Festival , returning to the T-Mobile Arena stage on September 20 and 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Other artists in the genre-spanning lineup include Big Sean , Camila Cabello , Doja Cat , Gwen Stefani , Hozier , Thomas Rhett, New Kids on the Block , Paramore , Shaboozey , The Black Crowes , Victoria Monét , and more. Ryan Seacrest will host the two-day festival. Tickets are available to the general public now on AXS.com .