Learn how her songwriting helped her cope with her teenage troubles and get all the details on her past loves including Joe Jonas, Jake Gyllenhaal and John Mayer. And, of course, everyone knows to look out for a famous face or two when Taylor performs “Style”.
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Taylor Swift gave an extremely emotional speech before segueing into her song “Ronan” during her concert on Monday (August 17) in Glendale, Ariz.
The song is about Ronan Thompson, who died from neuroblastoma in 2011, and it uses lyrics from blog entries penned by Ronan’s mother, Maya. I still can’t believe you did this.
Maya, who is billed as the co-writer of the song, posted several Instagram shots of her family enjoying the concert, including Ronan’s sister Pearl dancing herself into exhaustion. Taylor mentioned during her concert how cancer has hit home, following her mom Andrea’s diagnosis in April.
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“I wouldn’t know half as much as I know about childhood cancer and childhood cancer research if she hadn’t shared her story about her son Ronan”, Swift told the crowd. In another video of Swift’s monologue, Thompson wrote: “I still can’t believe you did this”. And it’s really not something that you bring up…but the fact that she brought it up, she had this blog called Rockstar Ronan and I would read it every night. In the midst of her mother’s own battle with cancer, the 25-year-old pop star sang the StandUp2Cancer single in honor of the toddler named in the track and his family. “And in it was this account of what it’s like to watch cancer take over your life”. Thank you @taylorswift for your lovely heart and for never forgetting my Ro. “Um… and… so because Maya is right there, I’d like for you to give her a round of applause”. (Proceeds for the song go to various cancer charities, including the Ronan Thompson Foundation.).
