A recent video of Keith Urban performing his 2016 hit ‘The Fighter’ has resurfaced amid the country music star’s split from wife Nicole Kidman after 19 years of marriage. Nicole officially filed for divorce this week, one day after reports of the pair’s split surfaced.
The Grammy-winning singer surprised audiences at a recent concert when he changed the lyrics to his popular song, which was about Nicole, to instead feature a line about country singer Maggie Baugh. The lyric is originally: “When they’re tryna get to you, baby, I’ll be the fighter,” and he changed it to, “When they’re tryna get to you, Maggie, I’ll be your guitar player.”
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Maggie shared the moment from September 27 on Instagram, with the caption, “Did he just say that 👀.”
Keith previously opened up to Billboard about how Nicole inspired the song, saying, “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.”
“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.”
Keith Urban slammed for lyric change
Fans were quick to slam Keith on Instagram, with many commenting on Maggie’s video and calling the move “tacky”.
“Wow, that song was made for Nicole,” one fan said. “For him to do that, that tells us what he’s really all about.
“That’s just disgusting. Nicole deserves much better.”
Many fans said the moment Keith mentioned Maggie’s name was “trashy”. Photo: Getty
“It is so trashy to do this to a song inspired by his wife,” said another. “It’s the ultimate ick.”
“I am no longer a Keith Urban fan,” a third said. “He should be ashamed of himself.”
“What a guy, he took a song he wrote for his wife and put a different woman’s name in it, now there’s class,” someone else added sarcastically.
Others said that Nicole is “better off” without him, with some claiming “she is the fighter, he is the player”.
It comes after celebrity culture expert Dr Phoebe Macrossan at the University of the Sunshine Coast told Yahoo Lifestyle, “The perception of a celebrity can certainly shift post-divorce, as you only have to think about the damage that Nicole’s split from Tom Cruise did to his image (particularly the couch jumping incident over Katie Holmes).
“However, someone as iconic and classy (and A-List) as Nicole will come out fine, which she also did post Tom.”
Who is Maggie Baugh?
Maggie has been performing with Keith this year on his tour. Photo: Instagram/maggie_baugh
Maggie Baugh is a 25-year-old country music star and has been touring with Keith as his guitarist this year.
The singer has been named on Spotify and Apple Music’s lists of rising country stars, and she hosts a popular TikTok series called Finish the Lick.
On the show, she is challenged by a friend or musician to finish the signature guitar riff of a popular song.
Her debut album Dear Me was released two years ago, in October 2023.
She has performed on The Kelly Clarkson Show and NBC’s Today, as well as Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night shows.
She previously told Pittsburgh Music Magazine that Keith asked her to perform with him at the CMT Music Awards in 2024, but she impressed him so much he asked her to join his touring band this year.
“Working with [Urban] was like going to rock star school. He is a musical encyclopedia,” she said.
She described the experience of working with Keith as “a dream” on social media.
Nicole ‘did not want the separation and was trying to save things’
The pair was last photographed together on June 20 of this year at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: Getty
TMZ revealed on Tuesday that multiple sources confirmed the news of the split to them, adding that the couple has been living apart for months.
“Sometimes relationships just run their course,” a source told Page Six. They add that the Big Little Lies actress “did not want the separation and was trying to save things”.
Multiple sources told TMZ Nicole and Keith have been living apart “since the beginning of summer” and that Nicole is caring for their daughters at their home in Nashville.
They added that Nicole is “holding the family together through this difficult time since Keith has been gone”.
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One source said at the time, “Keith has acquired his own residence in Nashville and has moved out of their family home.”
Nicole and Keith married nearly a year after meeting on June 25, 2006, in Sydney’s northern beaches.
Nicole and Keith’s daughter, Sunday Rose, breaks social media silence
Meanwhile, the pair’s eldest daughter, Sunday Rose, has shared a video of her recent appearance in a Dior fashion show.
The model didn’t reference her parents’ split, and simply wrote, “J’adore dior 🩶 SS26.”
Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret have otherwise kept quiet about the split.
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