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Music, film, appeals fill hour of "Stand Up To Cancer"

Taylor Swift at the 2012 Billboard Awards file,Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP

(CBS News) Accompanied only by a piano, singer Taylor Swift paid tribute to a young cancer victim with a special song during Friday's "Stand Up to Cancer" telethon.

"Stand Up to Cancer," feraturing dozens of A-list stars, aired on all the major networks and cable channels.

The 22-year-old Swift, wearing a red dress with her hair pulled back in a pony tail, sat on a stool on a bare stage as she sang "Ronan," dedicated to a 4-year-old boy who died last year of neuroblastoma.

At the song's end, the child's picture flashed on a screen in the background. Swift said she wrote the song after reading the blog of Ronan's mother, Maya Thompson, who is credited as a co-writer. It will be available on iTunes with all proceeds going to cancer-related charities.

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow, whose father died of cancer, is an executive producer of the fundraiser that was aired commercial-free from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Matt Damon and Michael Douglas, who himself battled throat cancer, opened the telethon. Among the celebrities taking part are Tom Hanks, Sofia Vergara, Julia Roberts, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Emma Stone, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel.

Alicia Keys and Coldplay were among the performers

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