Taylor Swift’s mum Andrea made her first public appearance since her cancer diagnosis, giving a moving speech in tribute to her daughter at the 50th American Country Music Awards in Texas on Sunday.
“Like many of you with children of your own, I am a very proud mum,” Andrea said on stage at the event as she presented her child with the Milestone Awards.
“So I would like to thank the ACMs for recognising her in this way and the entire music community for taking such good care of her.”
Mum-of-two Andrea, 57, also reflected back on Taylor’s childhood: “I’ve watched this milestone artist from the time she was a tangle-haired little girl growing up on our farm filled with creativity, until now preparing for her world tour,” she said.
“Her favourite thing is to write a song, tell a story and play a guitar or piano.”
Andrea’s public appearance at the awards comes one week after Taylor broke the news of her mum’s diagnosis via a heartfelt post on her website.
Taylor Swift and mum Andrea hug it out onstage at the American Music Awards.
“I’m saddened to tell you that my mom has been diagnosed with cancer,” Taylor wrote.
“I’d like to keep the details of her condition and treatment plans private, but she wanted you to know.”
The Blank Space hitmaker explained the diagnosis came after she and brother Austin asked their mother to get “screened for any health issues” as a Christmas.
Sadly, despite her mum feeling “perfectly fine” and there being “no red flags”, Andrea was diagnosed with cancer.
“She wanted you to know because your parents may be too busy juggling everything they’ve got going on to go to the doctor, and maybe you reminding them to go get checked for cancer could possibly lead to an early diagnosis and an easier battle,” added Taylor.
Taylor Swift was also seen pulling her signature gazelle-like dance moves in the crowd at the ACM Awards
The Shake it Off singer is used to sharing big events in her life through music, but for Taylor there was a lot more to discuss.
“Usually when things happen to me, I process them and then write music about how I feel, and you hear it much later,” she mused.
“This is something my family and I thought you should know about now.”
Taylor and Andreashare an incredibly close bond, with her mother constantly by the super star’s side.
In 2009 Taylor spoke candidly to US journalist Katie Couric about how much her mum has supported her.
“I had that group of friends when I was about 12 and then I lost that group of friends. They all decided they didn’t want to hang out with me anymore.”
“I would go sit at the lunch table and they’d move their trays to another table, which is not fun to go through. So, at that point, all I had was my mom.” Taylor shared, before going on to confess that at one point Andrea was her “only friend.”
Clearly Taylor and her mum have been through a lot together, and together will fight this battle too.
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