Taylor Swift Debuts ‘Ronan,’ Special Song For Cancer Victim [Video]
From the archive: published Sep 8, 2012, 14 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Pop-Country star Taylor Swift debuted her new song “Ronan” on Friday’s Stand Up to Cancer telethon.
The new track, which is now available for purchase via iTunes, pays tribute to Ronan, a 4-year-old cancer patient who died last year of neuroblastoma.
“I remember your bare feet down the hallway … I love you to the moon and back,” Swift sang to star-studded crowd at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. “Come on baby we’re gonna fly away from here / You were my best four years.”
According to Ace Showbiz , Swift wrote the song with Ronan’s mom, Maya Thompson, and vowed to donate all proceeds from the effort to cancer-related charities.
Following Swift’s song, dozens of celebrities like Ray Ramona, Seth Rogan, Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson and Sofia Vergara shared stories of how cancer affected their lives.
“It picked a fight with the wrong guy,” said Douglas, who had throat cancer. “Cancer didn’t bring me to my knees, it brought me to my feet. I stand tonight because I want to be part of this effort to find an end to cancer. This is possible.”
To close out the show, Tim McGraw contributed an emotional rendition of his hit song “Live Like Your Were Dying” written about his father Tug McGraw, who died of cancer in 2004.
Taylor Swift’s touching ‘Ronan’ performance at the telethon comes a day after she performed at the MTV Video Music Awards.
During the VMAs, Swift sang her latest single, ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,’ from her forthcoming album, “Red,” which hits stores on October 22.
Watch Taylor Swift sing her new track ‘Ronan’ during the 2012 Stand Up 2 Cancer charity event in the video below: