“Where The Rubber Meets The Road” — Taylor Swift Slows Tour Schedule To Prioritize Family, Alluding To Mom’s Cancer Battle

For many people supporting a loved one with cancer, the journey often means a realignment of priorities. Which is why, despite a new album to sell, Taylor Swift has hinted that she’s slowing things down in order to spend more time with her beloved mother.

Swift, who revealed earlier this year that her mom, Andrea, was battling cancer for the second time, has announced only four dates in the U.S. for her upcoming international “Lover” tour. While she didn’t explicitly say that her mom’s cancer was the reason, she told Beats 1 Radio that she has “some pretty intense things happening with my family right now. I can’t go on long tours and not have the ability to go home if I need to.”

Having flexibility, she said, was extremely important: “This is where the rubber meets the road and I actually have to make decisions. Where there are question marks in my life and things that are really important to me and my family, I have to be able to have some breathing room in my touring schedule.”

Swift added that she trusts her fans to understand, and that they’d stick by her during this difficult time. “[Fans] have been really respectful of that in the past,” she said.