Taylor Swift revealed in an interview published by Variety on Thursday that her mom, Andrea Swift, was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor while undergoing treatment for cancer.
She said the brain tumor was found while Andrea was receiving chemotherapy treatment after her cancer relapsed.
Swift said the family has been going through a hard time since the diagnosis.
“And the symptoms of what a person goes through when they have a brain tumor is nothing like what we’ve ever been through with her cancer before. So it’s just been a really hard time for us as a family.”
Andrea, 62, was first diagnosed with cancer in 2015 but Taylor revealed in an essay for Elle in March 2019 that Andrea’s cancer had returned.
The brain tumor was found while Taylor was filming her upcoming documentary, Miss Americana.
Miss Americana, which premieres at the Sundance Film Festival, focuses on Taylor’s life, including her feud with Kanye West. It also documents Andrea’s cancer struggle. But it does not touch on Taylor’s recent confrontation with the music mogul Scooter Braun over access to her music, according to Variety.
Monsters and Critics reported back in November 2019 that Swift took to social media with allegations against Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta and Braun that they were trying to stop her from performing her old songs at the AMA. She also alleged that they wanted to prevent her from using her songs for her upcoming Netflix show.
After she asked her fans to get in touch with Braun and Borchetta and let them know how they feel, Braun announced on social media that his family had received multiple death threats and that he wished to resolve the issue amicably.
Don’t know what else to do pic.twitter.com/1uBrXwviTS
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 14, 2019
In the interview with Variety, Swift also talked about her recent political activism. She recently came out in 2018 to publicly support a Democrat for the Senate race in Tennessee.
She said she kept quiet about her political views for so long due to her concern about how it could affect her music career. She recalled the backlash in 2003 after Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines came out against President George W. Bush.
She also revealed in the Variety interview that due to her mom’s’ illness, she would be having a shorter touring schedule for her new album Lover.
Swift addresses the issue of her mom’s cancer in a track from Lover titled Soon You’ll Get Better. In the track that features the Dixie Chicks, Taylor wishes someone she loves a quick recovery.
Taylor Swift fans will be able to stream Miss Americana on Netflix starting January 31.