Andy Grammer is a multi-platinum recording artist, husband and father to two young girls – and an advocate for breast cancer, a cause close to his heart. 

In 2009, when Andy was just 25, he lost his mother Kathy to breast cancer. “Her cancer was diagnosed late, and it happened really quickly. It was a very hard time.”

Losing his mother has influenced the way Andy lives his life and how he approaches his music. Growing up, Kathy was a driving force in Andy’s life and his biggest champion. “She was an incredible mother,” he said. “She was a community builder and a champion of other women.

Prior to his Kathy’s death, Andy had not experienced a lot of tragedy in his life, but found her passing helped ground his art in a way that was important for him. “When you lose someone, you have to get to a place where you learn from it. I had no understanding that people were going through this level of difficulty,” he said. “It became very important for me as someone who sings songs about lifting people to have empathy for what I’m singing about.”

As a way to honor his mother and give back to the breast cancer community, Andy has partnered with Komen “I miss my mom every day, but I’m grateful for what I got from that situation,” Andy said. “It’s helped me see that people are going through pain all the time in all different aspects of life, and there can be a lot of beauty that comes from that.” 

Learn more about the ways Andy is giving back and raising awareness for breast cancer. Listen to Andy share his story here.