Brantley Gilbert Credits What Country Star With His Sobriety

BRANTLEY GILBERT has been sober for almost three years . . .

but he's STILL talking about how KEITH URBAN helped him during a low point.

He says, quote, "He's been a really good dude to me. When I was making changes in my life, I was down and out, I was even in the hospital, he showed up and spent several hours with me one day out of nowhere, just encouraging me."

Keith was able to convince Brantley that things WILL get better: Quote, "He told me, 'Man it's a whole new world. It's different but you're gonna have a lot more fun with it.' He was uplifting and reassuring. That was a pretty impressive thing to me."

Brantley's met enough showbiz types to know that what Keith did was pretty special. He adds, quote, "You meet people in the business, and wonder how compassionate they are. But he showed up out of the blue, and I hardly knew the guy.

"I'll never forget that as long as I live, and I'm indebted to him now . . . for somebody of that stature to take that kind of time."