Taylor Swift To Turn Speak Now Rehearsal Into Charity Event

Country hitmaker will donate ticket sales from May 21 Speak Now Tour dress rehearsal in Nashville to tornado relief.
By Mawuse Ziegbe

Taylor Swift
Photo: Jason Merritt/ Getty Images

Taylor Swift will give fans an early taste of her upcoming Speak Now Tour for a very good cause.

The country darling announced on Friday (May 6) that she will allow fans to buy tickets to the final dress rehearsal of her tour to benefit communities devastated by tornadoes in the South in late April. According to the Associated Press, Swift has been preparing for her upcoming trek over the past five weeks at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, which will be the site of the "Speak Now ... Help Now" benefit.

Although the chart-topper is used to speaking frankly about her personal life in her music, Swift has never invited fans to check out how she gears up for her live shows. The songstress explained that witnessing the havoc-wreaking storms while putting the Speak Now Tour together inspired her to switch things up and take action.

"I was watching the coverage of the tornadoes backstage at rehearsals, and I wanted to do something for the families affected by the damage," Swift told the AP. "I've never opened a rehearsal to the public before, but I felt that inviting my fans to the last rehearsal for the Speak Now Tour would be a great way to raise money."

The songbird added that the benefit will be different from her other live appearances, as she is still hammering out the kinks of the production.

"We will probably still be doing some fine-tuning to the show that night, since this will be a true rehearsal, but I feel like it is so important for me and my fans to help if we can," she said.

Swift's Speak Now Tour is slated to kick off May 27 in Omaha, Nebraska, but before she hits the road, the Grammy-winning superstar is set to unveil her latest video, "Mean," on Friday night (May 6) on CMT and CMT.com at 10 p.m. ET.

Would you like to check out Taylor Swift's charity dress rehearsal? Let us know in the comments!

Related Artists

• Taylor Swift

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1663445/taylor-swift-speak-now-tour.jhtml

Ashley Scott Ashley Tappin Ashley Tisdale Asia Argento Aubrey ODay Audrina Patridge Autumn Reeser Avril Lavigne Bali Rodriguez Bar Refaeli Beyoncé Bianca Kajlich Bijou Phillips Blake Lively Blu Cantrell Bonnie Jill Laflin Bridget Moynahan Britney Spears Brittany Daniel Brittany Lee Brittany Murphy Brittany Snow Brittny Gastineau Brody Dalle Brooke Burke Brooke Burns Busy Philipps Cameron Diaz Cameron Richardson Camilla Belle Carla Campbell Carla Gugino Carmen Electra Carol Grow Carrie Underwood Cat Power Catherine Bell Chandra West Charisma Carpenter Charli Baltimore Charlies Angels Charlize Theron Chelsea Handler Cheryl Burke China Chow Chloë Sevigny Christina Aguilera Christina Applegate Christina DaRe Christina Milian Christina Ricci Chyler Leigh Ciara Cindy Crawford Cindy Taylor Cinthia Moura Claudette Ortiz Coco Lee Connie Nielsen Cristina Dumitru Daisy Fuentes Dania Ramirez Danica Patrick Daniella Alonso Danneel Harris Deanna Russo Denise Richards Desiree Dymond Diane Kruger Dido Diora Baird Dita Von Teese Dominique Swain Donna Feldman Drea de Matteo Drew Barrymore Ehrinn Cummings Elena Lyons Elisabeth Röhm Elisha Cuthbert Eliza Dushku Emilie de Ravin Emma Heming Emma Stone Emma Watson Emmanuelle Chriqui Emmanuelle Vaugier Emmy Rossum Erica Leerhsen Erika Christensen Estella Warren Esther Cañadas Eva Green Eva Longoria Eva Mendes Evangeline Lilly Eve Fergie Foxy Brown Freida Pinto