Wrestler Jeff Jarrett Reveals Taylor Swift Put on a 3-Hour Private Concert for His Wife Before She Died of Cancer

Taylor Swift is due for some good “karma,” according to professional wrestler Jeff Jarrett. 

In a new interview with TMZ Sports, the WWE Hall of Famer, 58, said he’s known the pop star, 35, since she “was a little girl.” Swift not only babysat his daughters, but also performed at an impromptu and intimate concert at his home after his wife was diagnosed with cancer, he said.

The “Shake It Off” singer was very young when she and her family moved to Jarrett’s hometown of Hendersonville, Tenn., Jarrett told TMZ. He grew accustomed to seeing the then-rising star who has “the legendary story” of “knocking on labels’ doors,” which made her stand out in their “small community.”

“It was Christmas of 2006. My first wife [Jill Gregory] was really ill with breast cancer. She passed away about five months after this, so she was really ill,” Jarrett explained. 

According to Jarrett, a friend of Swift’s suggested she stop by his family’s home, which was music to his daughters’ ears. By then, Swift had already scored her first hit with “Tim McGraw” and her self-titled debut album.

“Obviously, like every little girl in America, my daughters were big Taylor fans, and her songs had just kind of broke, but she was a hometown girl,” he continued, noting that she was a big deal in Tennessee before the rest of the world caught on. 

Jarrett remembered their holiday get-together as “an amazing experience.”

Swift originally arrived without her guitar, but “actually ran back home” to get it after realizing what a difference it would make, “‘cause the girls wanted her to sing and play.”

There were only about seven people at the Jarrett home at the start of the day, but “one thing let to another,” and the gathering quickly grew to about 45 people after Swift got her guitar, Jarrett recalled.

“By the end of the afternoon, Taylor played about three hours,” Jarrett said. 

Jarrett knew Swift and her family beforehand from seeing them around town. “She kind of bonded with the family, specifically with the girls,” Jarrett emotionally told TMZ Sports, which published photos of Swift with Jarrett’s family.

In one photo, Swift sat on a log for a daytime outing at the beach with him, his late wife, four kids and another teen. Another photo showed the Grammy winner inside a home, standing with Jarrett and two little girls who played on a keyboard. 

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When asked how his daughters feel now to have seen her go from their babysitter to a global superstar, Jarrett laughed. While she was loved by his kids and hung out with them, she wasn’t necessarily on his “payroll,” he joked.

“But what a very cool relationship that developed,” Jarrett said. “When my wife passed away, Taylor would come around, and was really good with the girls.”