Keith Urban checks into rehab, again

Country singer Keith Urban, who married actress Nicole Kidman in June, has checked into a treatment centre for alcohol abuse.

The singer released a statement Friday saying he entered rehabilitation Thursday night with his wife at his side.

"I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones that love and support me," said the singer, who turns 39 on Oct. 26.

“One can never let one's guard down on recovery, and I'm afraid that I have.”

Urban admits to a history of alcohol and drug abuse, and he received treatment in 1998.

The singer was scheduled to make a round of appearances in Australia starting Sunday. All those dates have been cancelled.

His publicist, who refused to reveal the location of the treatment centre, said Urban will likely cancel a scheduled appearance on the Country Music Association Awards next month.

“Nicole is standing by him," a close friend of Kidman told the Sydney Morning Herald, which speculated the singer was attending the Cumberland Heights rehabilitation centre in Nashville, where he had gone in 1998.

Kidman and Urban, who were both raised in Australia, married on June 25 in Sydney, Australia, in a lavish wedding with throngs of paparazzi following their every move. Baz Luhrmann, who directed Kidman in Moulin Rouge, and actors Naomi Watts and Russell Crowe attended the nuptials.

The couple, who met at a charity event in Los Angeles in 2005, moved to Nashville, where Urban records. Kidman was previously married to actor Tom Cruise and shares custody of their two adopted children.

Prior to his marriage to Kidman, several entertainment websites had reported Urban was drinking heavily.

Urban won a Grammy this year for best male country vocalist for You'll Think of Me and was named top male vocalist for the second year in a row by the Academy of Country Music.

His new CD, Love, Pain, & the whole crazy thing, will be released Nov. 7 as scheduled.

“I feel calm and optimistic about the future and with finally coming to terms with the reality of my condition,” said Urban in his statement.