How awesome is Taylor Swift?
The singer took to the stage at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on Saturday to perform in front of approximately 13,000 fans. But this wasn't just any show.
While it was technically the final dress rehearsal for Swift's upcoming Speak Now tour, the Billboard Music Award winner decided to turn it into a benefit event to help raise funds for victims of the devastating tornadoes that caused havoc over the past two months.
"We were rehearsing and one of my dancers, who is from Alabama, came in and showed us a picture of a cyclone in her backyard and we were just floored," recalled Swift. "I just felt, if there was any way that I could help with the damage done and all the families who've lost their homes, then I had to think of one. It came to me really quickly that here we are at a rehearsal in an arena where there are empty seats. What if we filled those empty seats and gave all the proceeds to the victims of the tornadoes?"
Sure enough, Swift did just that, and expressed her sincere gratitude to everyone in atttendance.
"Good evening, Nashville, Tenn. You have never looked more beautiful. Thank you so much for hanging out with us tonight," she said at the top of the show. "All proceeds tonight—T-shirts, merch, tickets, everything—will be going to the victims of the tornadoes. We don't have the final tally yet, but we do know, so far, that just based on tickets alone, you have raised over $750,000. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being with us tonight. I cannot tell you what a difference you are making to the lives of our loved ones in the Southeast."
Yep. Pretty awesome indeed.