(Getty Images)
Taylor Swift gave a heartfelt performance of her cancer tribute song “Ronan” during her 1989 concert in Glendale, Arizona on Monday. Swift wrote the song about Ronan Thompson, who died of cancer at the age of three in 2011. Taylor mentioned during her concert how cancer has hit home, following her mom Andrea’s diagnosis in April. Watch the emotional video below.
As Gossip Cop previously reported, Swift first performed “Ronan” at the 2012 “Stand Up To Cancer” telethon. Swift chose her concert in Glendale to publicly perform “Ronan” for the second time because Maya Thompson, Ronan’s mother and a big-time Swift fan, was in the audience.
Thompson, who has a co-writing credit on the song, later posted an Instagram video of the pop star introducing “Ronan.” “I still can’t believe tonight,” Thompson wrote in her Instagram caption. “I still can’t believe you did this. This will forever be one of the most special moments of my life. Thank you @taylorswift for your beautiful heart and for never forgetting my Ro. I love you to the moon and back.”
Swift prefaced her performance of “Ronan” with a sentimental speech explaining how she found out about Ronan and his journey nearly five years ago. “[Maya] had this blog called ‘Rockstar Ronan,’” Swift told the audience, “and I would read it every night.” The singer said she was inspired to pen the tribute song after the little boy passed away.
Watch Taylor Swift give an emotional speech about “Ronan” at her 1989 concert in the video below.
A video posted by Maya Thompson (@mamamaya) on Aug 17, 2015 at 11:28pm PDT
