Picture the scenario: Country music superstar Keith Urban is visiting his movie star wife Nicole Kidman in London as she is on location working. He becomes so moved to write a song inspired by her, he calls fellow songwriter and producer Busbee to collaborate. Busbee immediately jumps on a flight to London and “The Fighter” is born.
After writing the song that ultimately became a duet, choosing the female artist who could carry the powerhouse vocal melody became the focus. It was undeniable that Carrie Underwood would be called. She heard the demo, with busbee singing the female part, and fell in love with the idea.
“Carrie’s delivery was so heartfelt. Those are some hard lyrics for a female to sing”, says Urban.
“What if I fall (I won’t let you fall)
What if I cry (I’ll never make you cry)
And if I get scared (I’ll hold you tighter)
When they’re tryna get to you baby I’ll be the fighter
What if I fall (I won’t let you fall)
What if I cry I promise I’ll never make you cry
And if I get scared (I’ll hold you tighter)
When they’re trying to get to you, baby, I’ll be the fighter”
As the fifth and final single from Urban’s Capitol Nashville released RIPCORD album, “The Fighter” also won as the 2017 CMT Collaborative Video of the Year and the 2018 ACM Vocal Event of the Year. It remained on the Adult Top 40 Billboard charts for 40 weeks.
As scheduling was a challenge, uniting Underwood, Urban and busbee to celebrate the success of “The Fighter” finally happened, ironically, on the same day as Urbans newest single, “Coming Home”, also reached #1 from his latest 2018 project, PARALLEL LINE. Whether it be strategic marketing or pure coincidence on Urban’s side, the one thing we can all agree on is that he continues to create music that is commercially-viable and exhibits mass appeal. Keith Urban is forging a path in country music that has no boundaries
Great article but needs a correction. The name of Keith Urban’s latest album that ‘Coming Home” is from is titled “Graffiti U”. Parallel Line is a song off that album that Ed Sheeran co-wrote and plays guitar on.