The country music world was rocked when Nicole Kidman filed for divorce from Keith Urban on September 30, ending their 19-year marriage. The news came in the midst of Keith’s High and Alive world tour, leaving fans reeling — and speculation quickly followed.
Just a day after the filing, a viral video featuring Keith and his young guitarist Maggie Baugh ignited even more controversy. The clip, shared by Maggie herself, showed the two performing Keith’s hit “The Fighter” — a song originally written as a love letter to Nicole.
However, what caught everyone’s attention was a lyric change. Instead of singing “When they’re tryna get to you, baby, I’ll be the fighter,” Keith swapped “baby” for “Maggie”, saying, “Maggie, I’ll be your guitar player.” Maggie captioned the moment, “Did Keith Urban just say that?” — and within hours, fans flooded the comments with outrage.
“Breakups happen, but have some respect,” one commenter wrote. Another added, “He took a song he wrote for his wife and changed it for another woman.” A third simply stated, “Nicole deserves better.”
As speculation swirled, Maggie’s father, Chuck Baugh, finally broke his silence — attempting to put the rumors to rest. Speaking to the Daily Mail, he insisted his daughter’s relationship with Keith is strictly professional. “I don’t know anything about it, other than she’s a guitar player for him,” he said. “It’s more of a musician thing than a dating thing.”
Interestingly, Maggie was absent from Keith’s next show at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Fans also noticed that “The Fighter” had been removed from the setlist, replaced by “Wild Heart.”
Keith had first invited Maggie to perform with him at the 2024 CMT Music Awards, later welcoming her into his touring band. “Working with Keith was like going to rock star school,” Maggie once told Pittsburgh Music Magazine. “He is a musical encyclopedia.”
Hours before his latest concert, Keith was photographed without his wedding ring, though he still honored Nicole and their daughters — Sunday, 17, and Faith, 14 — with a slideshow during his performance, set to “Heart Like A Hometown.”
Keith and Nicole first met in 2005 and wed the following year in Sydney. Together, they built a life and family that many admired. In the divorce papers, Nicole reportedly requested to be the primary residential parent of their two daughters.
Their love story, once captured in the heartfelt lyrics of “The Fighter,” now seems to have reached its final chorus — leaving fans divided, and wondering what’s next for Keith Urban.
