Sources close to Keith Urban have said the country star will be pouring his heart into his music as he deals with the fallout of his 19-year marriage with Nicole Kidman ending – and there’s one country music star he’s grown very close to over the past year.
Keith, 57, has been supporting rising country music star Maggie Baugh, 25, as she goes from viral sensation to the biggest star in country music, with the Nashville singer crediting Keith with “making her career”.
“Maggie has been on tour with Keith for the past year and they absolutely love working together,” a source spills to Woman’s Day of Florida-born Maggie, who is a talented fiddler, violinist, and guitar player as well as an incredible singer. “Keith is in awe of her talent – and he regularly jokes that someday soon he will be supporting her on tour, not the other way around!”
Indeed, just last week, Maggie shared a reel to Instagram of Keith singing to her that he would be “her guitar player,” as fans were quick to comment, “I think he really loves having you on stage with him, Maggie. Keith recognizes talent when he sees and hears it. Knowing all the instruments you can play and contribute to the music. Where else is he going to find your kind of talent and voice, too. Go Maggie!”
Who is Maggie Baugh?
Maggie Baugh is one of country music’s fastest-rising stars, and now she’s caught even more attention as Keith Urban’s touring guitarist.
Originally trained in classical violin, Baugh shifted gears in her teens when she fell in love with country music. She began writing songs and performing at festivals in Florida before moving to Nashville at 18 to chase her dream. “Nobody in my family plays music,” she once admitted, describing herself as the “oddball” of her household.
Her big break came through social media. In 2022, she launched a TikTok series called Finish the Lick, where she challenged herself (and others) to complete iconic guitar riffs. The series quickly went viral, racking up over 40 million views and turning Maggie into an online sensation. That digital success helped launch her debut album Dear Me in 2023, which charted internationally and landed her on major playlists from Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon. The title track was deeply personal, drawing on her own experiences with bullying and mental health struggles.
Since then, she’s made appearances on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC’s Today, and even graced the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. In 2024, Keith Urban invited her to play with him at the CMT Awards and was so impressed, he asked her to officially join his touring band for his 2025 High and Alive World Tour.
The pair went viral in September 2025 when Keith changed the lyrics of his hit The Fighter mid-performance to sing directly to Maggie: “When they’re tryna get to you, Maggie, I’ll be your guitar player.” She posted the clip on Instagram with the cheeky caption: “Did he just say that
.”
It comes as sources tell Woman’s Day Nicole has returned to Nashville in a last-ditch attempt to save her marriage to Keith, after spending the summer in London filming Practical Magic 2 with Sandra Bullock.
On stage at the Nashville Film Festival this week, the Oscar-winner was all smiles as she vowed to bring “more and more production” to Tennessee alongside her bestie, Reese Witherspoon.
“I love the Nashville people because they embraced me two decades ago, and they keep making it possible for our family to have the most beautiful life here,” she told the crowd.
But behind the scenes, sources say the couple quietly split months ago and that it was Keith’s decision to end things between them, “Nicole doesn’t want this.
“There are two narratives at war – clearly his and hers,” an inside source told Woman’s Day, following news that the couple had split after 19 years.
“Her camp are saying it’s a trial separation; his are saying it’s over and has been for some time.”
The source adds that while Nicole is heartbroken, the reality is their marriage faltered years ago, particularly after the loss of her mother.
“She’s going back to Nashville to nut out a divorce,” the insider claims.
Sources also claim that Nicole and Keith struggle to agree politically. “He wants to follow a large chunk of country stars making a fortune from right-leaning country songs, which clashes with Nic’s left-leaning fashion crowd,” says the insider.
