If you thought a birthday cake and balloons were acceptable gifts for a music icon turning 58, Chase Matthew is here to prove you wrong. Matthew pulled out all the stops to give Keith Urban a custom Gibson guitar with Māori-inspired artwork by Sam Mangakahia. The artist named the creation, “The Rise of the Phoenix,” a fitting name given Urban’s fascination with mythology and the symbolism of the bird.

Beyond the name, the gift is packed with meaningful details that make it even more thoughtful.

Chase Matthew’s Thoughtful Gift

In a video posted on his Instagram account, the “Love You Again” singer, who opened for Urban during his recently concluded High and Alive World Tour, was seen expressing his gratitude for the opportunity Urban gave him: “Thank you so much for having us this year. Dude, we’ve learned so much from watching you and your team, and they’ve been so awesome and taking us to Australia with you. These are places we never thought we would ever be in our entire lives.”

Before giving the gift, he played a video recording of Mangakahia introducing himself and explaining the sentiment behind the gift. “My name is Sam Mangakahia. I thought I’d give a bit of background on the artist behind this gift that your friends put together for you, that I’m very excited to share more about. Again, Sam from the North Shore of Oahu. I actually grew up in Brisbane, Australia, and I’ve been out here for 10 years. It’s incredible. I’m a cultural artist and I tell stories through design that empower people to live true to their values. And this piece, I’ve titled ‘The Rise of Phoenix.’”

More Than Just a Guitar

Mangakahia continued to explain that the gift is more than a guitar with exquisite artwork. The workmanship embodies Urban’s story: his family, music journey, roots, and phoenix tattoo. He said, “It covers a lot of different things and it touches on your family, things that are important to you, your music, polarity in design, culture where you grew up, it’s all kind of wrapped up in this…design that I have annotated that you can read through carefully when you have time.”

When Urban opened the case backstage, he expressed his disbelief at the beauty of the gift. He never stopped wiping his tears from watching Mangakahia’s video until he wrapped Matthew in a long, grateful hug.

Urban also thanked Matthew not just for the gift, but also for opening for him: “It’s been an honor to have you guys out on the road with us. Really grateful that you want to do it. So thank you, all of you. Thank you.”