Throwback Thursday: Keith Urban, Jamie O'Neal and Toby Keith

I've loved Keith Urban since I first heard his hit song, 'But for the Grace of God' when it came out in 2000. Urban co-wrote 'But for the Grace of God' with Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's and it was his first number one song.

Before 'But for the Grace of God' stole the number one spot on the Billboard charts, the spot was held by Jamie O'Neal with the song 'There is No Arizona' and it was follow by Toby Keith's 'You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like That.'

All three songs were powerhouses and ones that I'll never forget. I thought on this Throwback Thursday that it would be fun to go back to the year 2000 and listen to the three songs that held the charts, one after the other.

Jamie O'Neal told Songfacts that the inspiration for this song came from the 1992 Stephen King novel, "Dolores Claiborne." O'Neal said, "When I played in Bangor, Maine, which is where Stephen King is from, his assistant was in the crowd. So when I told that story, she must have gone back and gotten a book. Anyway, he ended up autographing a "Dolores Claiborne" book and sending it to me and saying, 'Dear Jamie, there really is an Arizona. Love from a fan, Stephen King.' And I thought that was so nice. It really meant a lot to me. It's one of the best gifts I've ever gotten."

I liked this song when it first came out, but now that I'm married with a family of my own, it's so much more personal. We live in a neighborhood where we can hear everything that everyone does and I find myself cuddling up on the couch with my husband and son, cranking up the television and feeling thankful that we don't fight like some of our neighbors do and that we have such a strong love for each other.

I was in my early 20s when this song first came out and the day I heard it for the first time, I'd just pulled into the parking lot of the radio station where I worked and was just about to turn off my car, when my friend and fellow DJ, JD Green, introduced "Toby Keith's New Song, 'You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like That'" and I decided to leave the car running and listen to it. I was hit so hard by the lyrics because I was in a new and somewhat confusing relationship and the song really spoke to my situation at the time.

As an added bonus, here's a video of a 23-year-old Urban performing his very first song release, "Got It Bad' on Australian television in 1991. Look at that hair!

[via Billboard/Songfacts]