Keith Urban served as a judge on American Idol from seasons 12 through 15. The country singer was popular for his kindness and knowledgeable feedback, even outside the country music genre he is known for. With his successful career, as well as his marriage to Nicole Kidman, he definitely helped to bring more attention to Idol as it struggled to keep its audience, before eventually rebooting on another network. For his time, he was paid millions, which is a lot of money by most people’s standards, but not compared to some of his fellow judges.
On the reboot, Katy Perry is reported to be making $25 million per season, making her the second-highest-paid judge ever, after notoriously snarky judge Simon Cowell. Many past judges have commented on this, and none of them are bitter to have been paid less. Urban particularly didn’t seem to mind his paycheck as he returned for a total of four seasons, and might have continued for more if the show hadn’t switched networks and started fresh with completely new judges.
Exactly what Urban was paid by American Idol is debated. Reuters reports that he made $8 million per season, with other sources reporting anywhere from $3.5 million to $6 million. This is not a small range and makes a difference in where he falls among the pay rankings of the show's many past judges. It is also possible that all three numbers are accurate, but for different seasons. It could be that during his first appearance on the show, his pay was around $3.5 million, raised to $6 million in subsequent seasons, and extending to $8 million for his final season.
Urban shared the judging table with many other celebrities, some of whom earned significantly more than him. Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey didn’t get along, leading to both of them leaving after one season, which coincidentally coincided with original judge Randy Jackson’s last season. After that, the judging table was reduced to three, with Urban, Harry Connick Jr., and Jennifer Lopez serving as judges until the reboot. Jennifer Lopez was making $17.5 million per season, more than double Urban’s highest suspected salary.
Keith Urban seemed to really enjoy his time on the show. It was more than money to him. It was a chance to nurture young artists just starting out. He has raised money for musical foundations such as The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, which helps impoverished children get access to musical instruments. Music has played an important part of Urban’s life and his time on American Idol allowed him to share that joy with up-and-coming artists.
Source: Reuters