Taylor Swift: A star with heart

Taylor Swift. Photo / Michael Craig

Unlike the lyrics of the song she loved so much, young Jess Hosking did not live a long life.

But after the 19-year-old surf lifesaver died in her sleep from an undetected heart condition, her coffin was brought in to the the strains of Taylor Swift's hit Long Live.

And last night, her parents Sandra and Mark met the country singer backstage at her concert in Auckland.

Jess Hosking died six months ago while she was working in Paris as a nanny.

"Jess was a huge Taylor Swift fan and since we played her music for Jess' service, I've become a big fan as well," Sandra Hosking said.

Hosking said it was one of her daughter's dreams to meet Swift and they got to fulfil it on her behalf.

"There were so many things Jess planned to do,"Hosking said. "She loved to travel. She also wanted to climb Mt Kilimanjaro and go to the Galapogos Islands so we are making a list."

After touching down in New Zealand on Thursday morning, Swift was spotted around town with a team of bodyguards. The high-earning star caught the public ferry to Waiheke Island and dined at Mudbrick Restaurant.

Yesterday on Twitter, she posted a picture of herself eating a green donut to mark St Patrick's Day in Auckland. She plays her final show at Vector Arena tonight.