Keith Urban Said 'The Fighter' Lyrics Were 'Like a Vow' Before Maggie Baugh Video
Rising country star Maggie Baugh caused controversy and generated headlines when she posted a video to her Instagram page that showed Keith Urban changing the lyrics to his song, "The Fighter" to add her name.
Baugh, who is a utility singer on Urban's concert tour, wrote, "Did he just say that????" alongside the video, which showed Baugh and Urban singing together on stage.
Some fans were upset. "Why in the world would you post this?" wrote one person in the comment thread on Baugh's Instagram page. The video was posted on September 27. That's two days before news broke that Urban and his wife, Nicole Kidman, had separated. She has now filed for divorce.
The song's original lyrics read, “When they’re tryna get to you, baby I’ll be the fighter,” but Urban sang, "When they’re tryna get to you, Maggie I’ll be your guitar player.” The full lyrics can be found here.
That has some people wondering what Urban has said about "The Fighter" song in the past, including its inspiration.
Keith Urban Initially Sang 'The Fighter' as a Duet With Carrie Underwood
Before the 25-year-old Maggie Baugh, Urban sang the song famously with Carrie Underwood as a duet.
In 2017, Urban explained to Billboard "how a talk with Kidman had served as the inspiration for 'The Fighter.'"
“It’s all from a conversation my wife and I had early on in our relationship, that when things get tough, I need to hold her tighter and just try to take care of her,” he told Billboard at the time.
“The song is about wanting to heal somebody, wanting to take care of somebody, wanting to protect somebody. It’s really like a vow in so many ways.”
Baugh's biography mentions Urban.
“Most recently, Baugh caught the attention of Keith Urban who asked her to join him on tour as his utility player,” her website bio says.
'The Fighter' Developed When Keith Urban Was Playing a 'Supportive Role' to Nicole Kidman, Reports Say
Kidman and Urban married in 2006 and went on to have two daughters together.
Billboard reported that "The Fighter" developed while Urban "was playing the supportive role in his marriage, spending time in London" with Kidman, who was starring in a West End production at the time.
Urban wrote the chorus to the song during an Uber ride, Billboard reported.
“She’s female and tender, and I want that tenderness to not have to get hardened to the world,” Urban told Billboard of Kidman then. “That’s my job as her husband, to put myself around her so she can remain that way. And that’s really the chorus of ‘The Fighter.’ ”