During Coachella weekend two, Lady Gaga paused her headlining performance before singing a stripped down piano rendition of "The Edge of Glory" to make a request: "My friend Sonja is very sick and I love her so much and if it's okay with you, I'd like to sing this song for her."
Her decades-long friend and former assistant, Sonja Durham, is currently battling stage 4 cancer in her lungs and brain.
Related | Lady Gaga Teams Up with Born This Way Producer for New Single 'The Cure'
In an interview with Radio, Gaga discussed how Durham was the main inspiration for her Joanne bonus track, "Grigio Girls." Though it's unconfirmed, fans are also speculating that Gaga's latest single, "The Cure," is inspired by Durham, with lyrics like, "Promise I'll always be there / promise I'll be the cure."
While singing her Born This Way single, Gaga stopped mid-song, saying, "I'm sorry you don't feel well. We all wish you were here with us." Take a look at the powerful performance, below.
\u201cTouching moment @coachella tonight when @ladygaga dedicated a song to her friend battling cancer \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffc #LadyGaga #Coachella #Gagachella\u201d— Quinn (@Quinn) 1492944905
Here's a photo of Gaga and Durham together:
\u201cFor those in need log into https://t.co/SgXW4JIwRl Learn how to treat ure cancer from other fighters, survivors, or from the terminally ill.\u201d— Lady Gaga (@Lady Gaga) 1475900550
Just last month, Gaga threw Durham's dream wedding with husband Andre Dubois--as she described it in a blog post, Durham is friends with an "Angel that tells you she is going to throw you your dream wedding and there are no arguments."
