Carrie Underwood is revealing how both her husband Mike Fisher and her parents served as the inspiration behind her latest hit, “The Champion.” Carrie opened up about what inspired the lyrics to the track she co-wrote for the 2018 Super Bowl, stating that she was actually influenced by her own family members when it came to coming up with the lyrics.
Carrie said that she first felt influenced by her parents when writing the anthemic song featuring Ludacris for the big game – which will also be used as part of NBC’s Olympics coverage – because of how they worked hard to provide for herself and her two sisters while she was growing up.
“They just worked really hard and did everything they could to provide for us and make our lives better and give us every opportunity that they could,” Underwood said per PopCulture.com , admitting that the song really “started with [her] parents.”
But it wasn’t just the Oklahoman’s mom Carole and dad Steve who served as her inspiration, as she revealed that her husband of 7 years, retired NHL star Mike Fisher, also played a big part in the story behind the song.
“My husband, on and off the ice, he’s definitely a champion of mine,” Carrie gushed of Mike, who’s also father to her 2-year-old son Isaiah.
“I see the dedication that he put into his work playing hockey. I admire him so much for that,” she said, referring to Fisher’s lengthy career as playing for both Ottawa Senators and the Nashville Predators, where he served as the team captain before retiring from the game to spend more time at home with his family last year.
“To see how much he put into, and the love, that he put into his God-given ability was just very inspiring,” Underwood added of her husband, who poked a little fun at her earlier this week after she revealed on Twitter that she’d been pulled over for speeding for the very first time.
Carrie previously revealed that Mike is a big fan of “The Champion” — which shot to the top spot on the iTunes chart after it dropped on January 12 and stayed there for close to a week — before confirming that he was actually part of the inspiration behind the song.
Speaking to Variety after NBC confirmed last year that they’d commissioned the song from Underwood for Super Bowl LII, the country superstar said her husband loved the track and actually wanted to play it in the locker room to get his teammates in the zone before hockey games.
“My husband loved it. He would listen to it before playoff games,” Carrie said of Mike in 2017. “He was like ‘I want everyone to hear it!’… that was a good indicator that we were on the right track.”
Underwood then tweeted that her man was still a big fan of the song following its official release, as she sweetly noted that he was blasting the track during a workout session in their home gym.
“Happening now: the hubby is upstairs working out BLASTING #TheChampion,” Underwood told fans on social media. “Get it, babe!”
Carrie Underwood’s “The Champion” featuring Ludacris will be showcased in a special pre-taped video ahead of the 2018 Super Bowl on NBC on February 4. It will then serve as the soundtrack to the network’s Olympics coverage throughout February.