There’s no denying the vocal magic that Carrie Underwood brings to Keith Urban‘s “The Fighter.” However, as the singer told Billboard in May 2016 when he released Ripcord – the album from which the single was pulled from – it almost didn’t work out to include Underwood on the song.
“That was the absolute last song we did for the record,” he said. “We didn’t have Carrie’s part and she was on her Storyteller Tour. As it turned out, she had a day off in St. Louis — the same day I was doing the “Wasted Time” video. busbee — who I wrote and produced the song with — flew to St. Louis, found a studio, got Carrie in there. She was singing her part and I was FaceTiming them from the video shoot — just so I could be a part of it. It was strange to be on the other side of the country, but due to the miracles of modern technology we got it done. I think she killed the song. I was so happy with how it turned out.”
Fans are loving the collaboration as well, which sits at No. 6 on Hot Country Songs. Obviously, with both artists’ busy schedules, it’s tough for them to always be together to perform the tune. Underwood did film a clip of her performing the chorus, which has gotten plenty of play at Urban’s shows. But, during an April performance at the Grand Ole Opry, the singer decided that he would turn the song into an acoustic tour de force, letting the audience fill in for Underwood.
Before playing the first note, Keith told the audience, “We’re going to try this song that is a duet, but I am Carrie-less tonight. So, I thought I could get somebody out of the audience to sing it, or I could think that there’s safety in numbers and get the whole tribe to sing tonight.”
Enjoy this exclusive look at “The Fighter” from the Grand Ole Opry below.