Taylor Swift's Surprises 'The Tonight Show' Host Jimmy Fallon With Emotion-Heavy Song, 'New Year's Day'
Taylor Swift recently appeared on "The Tonight Show" in a surprise performance for host Jimmy Fallon.
"The Tonight Show" had been canceled for a few days after it was revealed that host Jimmy Fallon's mother had fallen ill and sadly passed away. With this tragic news, the show decided to give Fallon time to mourn. However, the 43-year-old just recently made an emotional return to the show paying tribute to his mother, Gloria, and finally addressing her death. But little did he know that the show had also prepared a special surprise for him: Taylor Swift.
Taking to the stage, Taylor Swift performed a brand new song called "New Year's Day" fresh from her recently released album "Reputation." Swift performed the emotion-filled song all the while playing the piano. After her performance, she shared a tender moment with Fallon when he approached her. Giving him a warm embrace, Swift also patted Fallon in the back showing her support to the host in probably one of the darkest moments of his life.
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In a series of Twitter posts, "The Tonight Show" writer Mike DiCenzo explained how Taylor Swift's surprise appearance came to be. According to him, since they all knew Jimmy's mom really well and how much the host loved her, they wanted to do something special for him. As it so happens, Taylor Swift had just finished appearing on "Saturday Night Live," and she was then approached by the show if she could come and perform as a surprise for Jimmy. Without any hesitation, the 27-year-old agreed.
Probably one of the most emotional moments of the whole performance was when Swift sang a specific passage from her song, saying: "You squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi / I can tell that it's gonna be a long road / I'll be there if you're the toast of the town, babe / Or if you strike out and you're crawling home."
Coincidentally, Jimmy had just shared how his mother would always squeeze their hands to tell them how much she loves her. "When we were little, my mom would walk us to this store, me and my sister, and she would squeeze my hand three times and say, 'I love you,' and I would squeeze back, 'I love you, too,'" Fallon explains. "And... last week I was in the hospital and I grabbed her and squeezed, 'I love you,'" the late-night show host added.
According to DiCenzo, there wasn't a dry eye in the room during Swift's performance.