Keith Urban has recalled the loving promise he gave to his wife Nicole Kidman when he was trying to convince her that he was a “good bet” to spend the rest of her life with.
The couple, who married in 2006, rarely spend more than two days apart with Keith, 50, regularly jetting back between his shows to see his wife and kids when he’s on tour.
But before they tied the knot, Keith has revealed he had to work to convince the Hollywood actress, 51, that she could rely on him and truly let her guard down. One conversation they had has stuck in his mind ever since, and it has gone on to inspire his hit song ‘The Fighter’.
Speaking at a BMI event at the Back Corner in Nashville on Monday, Keith was joined by his co-writer busbee (Michael James Ryan Busbee) and collaborator Carrie Underwood, to celebrate their success on the song.
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He admitted Nicole was his main inspiration behind the song, and said it stemmed from a conversation they had before they got married – where he tried to convince her he would always look out for her.
“I was a safe place and I would take care of her, and she could remain vulnerable and precious and that I would try and keep the world away from her so she didn’t have to be hardened,” he said, according to meaww.com.
“I think you should be vulnerable and be a spirit and be real, and if people would stop being so harsh, especially to ourselves, then we wouldn’t have to have thick skins. We could just be a little more what we are, which is pure spirit and fragile and real. Real human beings. Real people.”
One line of the song begins: “When they’re trying to get to you baby I’ll be the fighter”, and he admitted that that in particular came from their conversation.
Meanwhile, Keith went on to thank Carrie for singing the hit with him and allowing herself to show her own emotions on stage – something he claimed many female artists are reluctant to do.
It comes after Keith thanked his wife publicly in an emotional TV interview last week on Andrew Denton’s Interview, revealing she was his main reason for overcoming his past addiction.
Read more: ‘Love in action’: Emotional Keith Urban says Nicole saved him from addiction
Keith said he was “terrible” at relationships before he met Nicole, due mainly to his personal issues previously.
“I had all kinds of issues, addiction obviously, that makes life hard. That was a real roller coaster part of my life for about a decade really,” he said.
Not long after their marriage, Keith booked himself into rehab and explained: “My wife put an intervention together and it was divine, it was a divine intervention. It was love in action and the timing was absolutely divine.”
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As Andrew pointed out that his life appeared perfect from the outside, with a hugely successful career and loving marriage, Keith insisted his own demons had nothing to do with that and added: “It was something I should have dealt with many many years before I met Nic… I wasn’t ready. People tried, it wasn’t through lack of people wanting to help me, I just wasn’t ready.”
The singer has now been clean for 12 years and he credited Nicole’s “unquantifiable strength” for keeping him strong throughout.