Taylor Swift may not exactly be making country music anymore, but she did receive the Milestone Award at last night's Academy of Country Music Awards. And the presenter was none other than her mom, ABC News reports. "For many years, I was her constant companion, and I witnessed a young girl with very few friends become a young woman with many, learning to stand up for herself and the things she believes in," Andrea Swift told the audience, recalling that "every once in a while her dad, her brother, or I find ourselves to be the subjects of [Swift's] songs. Sometimes we're merely the inspiration. Like the time she was 17 years old, and her dad and I strongly disapproved of a certain young man, and rightfully so. But she was mad. She was real mad, and she went to her room, and she closed the door, and she came out about an hour later with a song called 'Love Story.'"
Swift, who revealed earlier this month that her mom is battling cancer, then addressed her aforementioned pivot away from country music. "To the country music community, when I told you that I had made a pop album and I wanted to go explore other genres, you showed me who you are with the grace you accepted that with. I will never forget it," she said. "I'm so happy, so happy that I learned how to write songs in a town like Nashville. I'm so grateful that I learned what hard work is from my heroes who are all sitting here, and I'm so unbelievably proud that I learned to treat people with kindness and respect from country music." The Washington Post notes that Swift leaving the country genre was a "devastating blow" to the industry, and it suspects her Milestone Award was "a fairly blatant attempt to drive ratings" to the ACM broadcast. (More Taylor Swift stories.)
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