 |
I learned that music is a real gift and not just a trick. Because I've been playing since I was 6, there was a big part of me that thought it was a trick, like a person who can crack their knuckles or do some weird thing, like it's what I did. I just got onstage and played, and everybody claps, so my identity was wrapped up in it and my self-esteem was built a large part on audience reaction. But what that time taught me was that I can not be thinking my life is all about playing music. I can't have my self-esteem based solely on people clapping. It's just so dangerous and unhealthy.
All of that was behind you when you met Nicole in L.A. on Jan. 15, 2005.We met that night very briefly at G'Day L.A. [an annual event honoring prominent Australians]. We were being honored that night–Mel [Gibson] and her and myself. I didn't get to meet Mel, but I got to meet Nic. [It was] just a divine coming together. I mean it really was. I feel very strongly about the timing, the way it [happened] and the pace that it [happened at]. Definitely we both met each other exactly at the right time. She said early on that she wanted to be brave with me. I feel there was something else at work, bringing us together and then just continuing to watch over us.
Did it trouble you to fall in love with someone everybody knew?
I was fortunate; there's a lot of her films I haven't seen. I haven't seen Moulin Rouge! I know it's crazy but at the same time, I think again, all those things were so helpful for our courtship, to have none of them get in the way. Oh, I will see all [her movies] when she lets me….You have to understand that my wife has to give me permission to see all of her films! The great part is, I'll be on tour and getting to the point where I'm really missing her badly, probably about the third day [of being apart]. I'll get on the bus after the show, and we'll drive over to the next town and I'm fooling around with the TV, and there'll be a movie of hers on cable so I get to see her. I just see her, and I can see all her mannerisms and it makes me feel like I'm watching a little home movie.
JOSH & FERGIE: ROCKED BY SCANDAL
Did he cheat with a stripper?
Married less than a year, the couple denies an Atlanta woman’s claims that she and Josh had a fling
Note that this week’s cover of PEOPLE may differ regionally
