During his return, Fallon briefly acknowledged his loss, tearing up while sharing a childhood memory of his mother squeezing his hand three times to say, "I love you."
Swift showed up to play her reflective new ballad, "New Year's Day," which includes the lyric, "squeeze my hand three times in the back of a taxi."
Related: Jimmy Fallon tearfully remembers his late mother Gloria on ‘The Tonight Show’
After her performance, the singer wrapped Fallon in a hug and waved to the audience.
Mike DiCenzo, a producer and writer on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” explained on Twitter that they asked Swift to perform “on a complete whim” since she was in town from doing “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend and “she said yes with zero hesitation.”
Related: Cities, dates announced for Taylor Swift 'Reputation' tour
DiCenzo gave more insight into the taping and Swift’s perfomance in a thread of tweets. He also said that Fallon’s story about his childhood memory with his mother was something no one on staff knew about.
"I could see Jimmy silhouetted at his desk dabbing his eyes with a tissue. We all lost it," DiCenzo tweeted. "It was a beautiful coincidence in a beautiful performance. 'Hold on to your memories, they will hold on to you,' Taylor sang."
Watch the performance below.
On Monday, Swift announced a 2018 stadium tour to support her new album, "Reputation." Tickets to the general public will go on sale Dec. 13.
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