When Taylor Swift takes the stage Friday night for the first of three shows in Houston, it’ll be a homecoming.

Swift’s mom, Andrea Swift, grew up in Houston. She attended Memorial High School and graduated from the University of Houston.

Though her mom left the area shortly after, Swift has said they returned a few times to visit family.

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“I remember going and visiting my aunt and thinking that this was the best shopping (The Galleria) I’ve ever seen,” Swift told me in 2007.

Taylor Swift and her mother Andrea Swift | PH๏τo Credits: Splash
Swift again referenced the local connection during a 2015 tour stop at Minute Maid Park during her 1989 World Tour.

“Houston has been historically one of my favorite places to play shows,” she told the crowd. “Houston is where my parents got married. Houston is where my mom graduated college.”

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Andrea and Scott Swift were married in 1989 in Houston. Swift revealed to fans in 2015 that her mother was diagnosed with cancer. It returned in 2019, and she was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2020. Swift channeled her feelings into the song “Soon You’ll Get Better” featuring The Chicks.

In 2017, Swift made a “very sizable donation” to the Houston Food Bank in honor of her mother.

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Joey Guerra

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Joey Guerra is the music critic for the Houston Chronicle. He also covers various aspects of pop culture. He has reviewed hundreds of concerts and interviewed hundreds of celebrities, from Justin Bieber to Dolly Parton to Beyonce. He’s appeared as a regular correspondent on Fox26 and was head judge and director of the Pride Superstar singing compeтιтion for a decade. He has been named journalist of the year multiple times by both OutSmart Magazine and the FACE Awards. He also covers various aspects of pop culture, including the local drag scene and “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

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