Keith Urban’s Song ‘The Fighter’: Breaking Down the Lyrics About Nicole Kidman and Concert Drama

Keith Urban’s song “The Fighter” was once a declaration of love for his estranged wife, Nicole Kidman.

The track was featured on Urban’s 2016 album, Ripcord, as a duet with Carrie Underwood. The following year, Urban released “The Fighter” as a single. As the song jumped on the charts, Urban opened up about how Kidman inspired the track.

“It was just a very quick, quick song to write,” he told The Boot in March 2017. “Because I literally thought about Nic and I and our relationship in the beginning, and some of the things we had said all went into that song.”

While “The Fighter” became a staple in Urban’s setlist, things changed dramatically after Us Weekly confirmed that Kidman and Urban had split after nearly two decades of marriage. After Kidman filed for divorce from Urban in September 2025, the song started to go viral after fans noticed that Urban made changes to the song when performing it live before taking it out of his setlist completely.

Keep scrolling for a full breakdown of Urban’s song “The Fighter”:

What Is ‘The Fighter’ About?

“The Fighter” is about a man promising a woman that he’ll love and support her after she suffered a previous heartbreak.

“I know he hurt you / Made you scared of love, too scared to love / He didn’t deserve you / ‘Cause your precious heart is a precious heart,” Urban sings on the first verse. “He didn’t know what he had and I thank God / And it’s gonna take just a little time / But you’re gonna see that I was born to love you.”

The duet continues with Underwood coming in as the woman sharing her fears while Urban reassures her.

Is ‘The Fighter’ About Nicole Kidman?

Urban wrote the song about his relationship with Kidman. The actress appeared in “The Fighter” music video alongside Urban. The pair filmed the video on Urban’s camera. While sitting in a car together, Urban serenaded his then-wife while Kidman lip-synched Underwood’s parts.

What Has Keith Urban Said About ‘The Fighter’?

When “The Fighter” dropped, Urban confessed that the song was a personal one for him.

“It comes from a very real place. It’s a song about helping to heal and protect someone you love,” he said in a press release at the time. “It’s a song about reassurance that you’ll always be there to take the blows the world can throw.”

One month later, Urban shared that his relationship with Kidman served as inspiration.

“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,” Urban told Billboard in March 2017. “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.”

Did Keith Urban Change the Lyrics at His Concert?

Before Kidman filed for divorce from Urban, the country singer made a change to the song while performing it on his High and Alive World Tour. According to a resurfaced video from an April 2025 concert, Urban altered the lyrics and included a shout-out to his guitar player, Maggie Baugh.

“I was born to love you,” he seemingly pointed at Baugh across the stage in footage obtained by TMZ the following month. “Maggie, I’ll be your fighter.”

How Did Maggie Baugh Get Involved?

Baugh is a guitar player who joined Urban on his High and Alive World Tour. After news broke of Urban and Kidman’s divorce, Baugh entered the spotlight following the country singer’s onstage shout-out during a concert.

In addition to giving her a mention on stage, Urban also made another change during an additional performance for “The Fighter.” Urban altered the original lyrics from “when they’re tryna get to you, baby, I’ll be the fighter” to “when they’re tryna get to you, Maggie, I’ll be your guitar player” during a show.

Baugh reshared the clip via Instagram and captioned it, “Did he just say that👀.”

Fans started speculating that Baugh was involved in Urban and Kidman’s split. However, her father addressed the drama, stating it was not true. (Urban and Baugh have not addressed the lyric changes. Us previously reached out to Urban and Baugh for comment.)

After the song changes made headlines, Baugh skipped Urban’s first show following the news of his and Kidman’s divorce.

Is Keith Urban Still Playing ‘The Fighter’ Live?

Urban has not performed “The Fighter” at his concerts since his split from Kidman.