Keith Urban Says He Needed Carrie Underwood on ‘The Fighter’ — Here’s Why
When Keith Urban ran into scheduling roadblocks trying to get Carrie Underwood on his new track "The Fighter," he wasn't willing give up and ask someone else. It had to be Underwood. Her voice is simply unparalleled.
“I love her voice. Love it. And I actually think she’s got so much more to go. She’s really really, really talented and she’s just really starting to discover what she can do as a singer,” Urban tells The Boot.
Underwood’s schedule was understandably jam-packed with her Storyteller Tour and other appearances, and Urban’s deadline for Ripcord was fast approaching when he began working on the duet. When Underwood said she only had one available day in the timeframe on which to record, Urban jumped at the chance.
“Busbee flew to St. Louis, got a studio and was in there with Carrie,” Urban says. “And then I would take a break from filming and FaceTime then and check in with them.”
Urban was filming his “Wasted Time” music video that day, but didn’t want to miss out on having Underwood on the tune, which he compares to Meatloaf’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth’s “Marvin Gaye."
“It’s not a traditional duet where there's a lot for the girl to sing, but it’s an important role in the song,” he says with a smile. The disco-inspired track is just one of the genre-blurring tunes on the album, including his collaboration with Pitbull called “Sun Don’t Let Me Down.”
Watch the full video above to hear Urban speak to whether or not he’s ever nervous about going too far into another genre. Ripcord is on record store shelves on May 6.
Watch 7 Unforgettable Keith Urban Moments