Taylor Swift sat down with “Variety” to discuss her upcoming Netflix documentary “Miss Americana,” debuting January 31st, and during the interview opened up about her mother Andrea’s health struggles, revealing that she is battling a brain tumor.

“Everyone loves their mom; everyone’s got an important mom, but for me, she’s really the guiding force,” Taylor says. “Almost every decision I make, I talk to her about it first. So obviously it was a really big deal to ever speak about her illness.”

Taylor shares that the latest health crisis was discovered while her mother was battling breast cancer. “She was going through chemo, and that’s a hard enough thing for a person to go through,” she says. “While she was going through treatment, they found a brain tumor… So it’s just been a really hard time for us as a family.”

Taylor’s mom’s illness directly affected the way Taylor decided to tour behind “Lover,” only playing select festival dates, as well as a handful of her own curated festivals. “That’s the reason. I mean, we don’t know what is going to happen. We don’t know what treatment we’re going to choose,” she shares. “It just was the decision to make at the time, for right now, for what’s going on.”

Regardless of why she decided to tour that way, Taylor is excited for the shows. “I wanted to be able to perform in places that I hadn’t performed in as much, and to do things I hadn’t done before, like Glastonbury,” she adds.

“But I also wanted to be able to work as much as I can handle right now, with everything that’s going on at home. And I wanted to figure out a way that I could do both those things.”

Among the other revelations from the article:

Despite the horrible reviews, Taylor doesn’t regret appearing in “Cats.” “I had a really great time working on that weird-a** movie,” she insists. “I’m not gonna retroactively decide that it wasn’t the best experience.”

“Miss Americana” focuses on Taylor’s decision to become more vocal about politics and certain issues, and one scene shows how “terrified” her father was when she decided to speak out against Tennessee’s Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, who she sees as anti-feminist and anti-LGTBQ. Tay shares, “My dad is terrified of threats against my safety and my life, and he has to see how many stalkers we deal with on a daily basis, and know that this is his kid. It’s where he comes from.”

Taylor does regret not speaking up sooner, specifically before the 2016 election. “I can’t change that. … I need to be on the right side of history,” she tells her dad in the documentary. As for her decision to go public against Blackburn, Taylor says, “This was a situation where, from a humanity perspective, and from what my moral compass was telling me I needed to do, I knew I was right, and I really didn’t care about repercussions.”

Finally, fans will get to hear a brand new song in “Miss Americana,” “Only the Young.” “I wrote it after the midterm elections, when there were so many young people who rallied for their candidate…,” Swift shares. “It was hard to see so many people feel like they had canvassed and done everything and tried so hard. I saw a lot of young people’s hopes dashed. And I found that to be particularly tragic.” Taylor says she has no plans to release the tune as a single, although it will be available for streaming and download. She notes, “I just see it as a song that goes with this film.”

Source: Variety

John Anderson is ready to release a new album. In case you missed it, the 65-year-old is getting ready to drop “Years,” on April 10th, which was produced by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach.

The album features 10 new songs, with a guest appearance by Blake Shelton on the tune “Tuesday I’ll Be Gone.”

Anderson recorded the album while he was dealing with a health crisis, and notes, “We went in the studio, and I remember saying, ‘I’m going to do this like it might be my last,’” adding, “It still could be, but now the chances of that are getting slimmer and slimmer every day. I’m doing better so I’m not hardly thinking that way anymore.”

Anderson wrote “Years” with album producers Dan Auerbach and David Ferguson, as well as Pat McLaughlin. Auerbach called Anderson out of the blue to see if they could write together, and those collaborations led to the new recording. “Years” will be Anderson’s first new album in five years.

Although he prefers not to go into details with regards to his health, Anderson adds, “There’s a few things that I came out of this whole deal better with. Part of it is my love for music and part of it is my appreciation for my family. But the biggest part is knowing that I might die here any minute, for who knows what reason, but I know that the good Lord already came down and touched me. There’s not a doubt in my mind.”

Check out the track list below:

“I’m Still Hangin’ On”
“Celebrate”
“Years”
“Tuesday I’ll Be Gone” featuring Blake Shelton
“What’s a Man Got to Do”
“Wild and Free”
“Slow Down”
“All We’re Really Looking For”
“Chasing Down a Dream”
“You’re Nearly Nothing”

Source: Rolling Stone

Here’s the title track:

Sam Hunt is going to have to face the consequences of his November DUI arrest. A hearing on the case was supposed to take place Friday but it was canceled, and instead the case has been sent to a grand jury.

No reason for Friday’s cancellation was given, with a Davidson County clerk simply noting, “the case has been bound over and transferred to a higher court,” although a source tells Radaronline that’s “usually reserved for serious felonies.”

A clerk adds, “A prosecutor will work with a grand jury to decide whether to bring criminal charges or an indictment against a potential defendant.”

Sam was arrested November 21st in Nashville. He later took to social media to apologize for his actions.

Reba McEntire is headed to CBS next month. The singer has landed a role on the network’s hit sitcom “Young Sheldon.”

Reba will turn up in a February episode, playing the “fun and fiery” ex-wife of Craig T. Nelson’s character Dale, who is dating Sheldon’s Meemaw, played by Annie Potts.

Reba, of course, isn’t a stranger to sitcoms. She starred in her own WB series, “Reba” for six years.

Taylor Swift fans won’t have to wait much longer to see her Netflix documentary. The streaming service announced that the doc, “Miss Americana,” will debut January 31st, following a January 23rd premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

According to a press release, the doc, will give fans a “raw and emotionally revealing look” at Tay “during a transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer, but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice.”

The doc was embroiled in a bit of controversy after Taylor revealed that the head of her former label Scott Borchetta and its new owner Scooter Braun, who own the rights to Taylor’s masters, refused to let her music be used in the doc. They denied the accusations.

ONE MORE THING! Wondering how Taylor rang in the New Year? Well, according to British singer Matthew Crane, Tay and beau Joe Alwyn were at his show at a luxury water villa resort in the Maldives. “So I can now finally reveal who I sung to on New Year’s Eve in the Maldives, probably the most notable Pop Star at the moment, the one and only @taylorswift and @joe.alwyn,” he shared on Instagram. “They were both so friendly and kind to me when I performed, they even gave me a standing ovation and complimented on my voice,” adding, “It was truly an honour and an experience that I will never forget.”