An emotional Taylor Swift delivered a poignant performance during the One World: Together At Home concert.
The star joined other A-listers including Lady Gaga, Sir Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones and Beyonce during an evening celebrating frontline workers fighting the coronavirus crisis.
The singer was introduced by co-host for the evening Jimmy Fallon, who said Swift had “already contributed so much” amid the crisis.
Swift then appeared, sitting at her piano in front of a floral background. Wearing an understated black top, she delivered a touching rendition of Soon You’ll Get Better, a track written about her mother’s cancer diagnosis.
Are we out of the woods? Not exactly, but we can all do our part to help each other get through the coronavirus pandemic #TogetherAtHome. You can take action with @TaylorSwift13 to support @WHO, frontline health care workers, and everyday heroes here: https://t.co/26xVXSb0qy pic.twitter.com/mTm1EaHTw0
— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) April 19, 2020
The lyrics took on a new meaning against the backdrop of a global health crisis, as she sang of hospital visits and fears for the future.
“Soon you’ll get better, you’ll get better soon,” she sang. “‘Cause you have to.”
At one point, Swift appeared on the verge of tears. She had previously spoken about how difficult the song was to perform due to its subject matter.
She said: “I don’t know if I’ll ever play it live. It’s just really difficult for me. It was hard to write. It’s hard to sing. It’s hard to listen to for me. But sometimes, music is like that. Sometimes it’s not just about stuff that was pleasant to feel.”
The performance came after Swift announced she was cancelling all live performances in 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak.