An Eras Tour performer left to fight cancer, then came back
- - An Eras Tour performer left to fight cancer, then came back
Bryan West, Nashville Tennessean December 19, 2025 at 7:46 AM
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At the height of the Eras Tour, backup singer Jeslyn Gorman stepped away to fight cancer. She returned months later after beating the disease, ready to sing again.
Gorman's story unfolds powerfully in Episode 3 of Taylor Swift's Disney+ Eras Tour docuseries, offering one of its most emotional plotlines. During the first year of the tour, Gorman was flying back and forth between concert stops to Los Angeles, juggling rehearsals and performances with medical appointments, biopsies and the uncertainty of a cancer diagnosis.
"Obviously it was devastating, but every weekend we had a show," Gorman says.
"I'll never forget when she told us," Swift says. "Everyone was just in shambles. And it's the not knowing."
Swift immediately understood the gravity of Gorman's diagnosis. Her own mother, Andrea Swift, battled cancer after first being diagnosed in 2015. The singer and her team made it clear there would be no pressure to return before she was ready.
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"You just take care of you, and we'll be here when you're ready," Andrea Swift told Gorman.
From home, Gorman watched the Eras Tour continue through livestreams, cheering on the crew from afar. After six months, cell phone video captured the backup singer ringing a bell at the end of treatment. And instead of taking some time to let the moment soak in, Gorman jumped on a plane to rejoin the cast in Sydney, Australia.
"I cannot believe that she was back in a few months," Swift says. "The will to come back and do the hardest show ever. None of us could believe it. I still can't."
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - JULY 04: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY AND NO COMMERCIAL USE AT ANY TIME. NO USE ON PUBLICATION COVERS.) Taylor Swift performs on stage during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Johan Cruijff Arena on July 04, 2024 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Aldara Zarraoa/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management) ORG XMIT: 776166047 ORIG FILE ID: 2160621161
On each night of the tour, a member of Swift's crew would lead the band and dancers with a motivational message. Gorman thanked the team for seeing her, supporting her and holding space for her when she couldn't be with them. She recalled a moment from the previous year — tripping on a sidewalk outside Swift's birthday party in front of paparazzi while dealing with treatment side effects — and how Swift introduced her as, "Guys, this is Jeslyn. We sing together."
Gorman makes a look that emphasized not being labelled a back-up singer, but as someone who simply sings with Swift.
"No one says that," Gorman says. "No one says that. And I think that just says something about who you are and how humble you are, and how you like to shed light on people and make them feel bigger than they think they are. And in that moment, I needed that. It's never a 'me,' it's always a 'we,' and I think that it just makes you feel like we are the only 'we' that will ever be on the biggest f***ing tour in the world."
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: An Eras Tour performer left to fight cancer, then came back
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
