Vanessa Hudgens mourns father hours before ‘Grease’ performance

The pretty star, 27, revealed last summer that her dad was suffering from stage 4 cancer. The actress later tweeted she would do the show in her dad’s honor, which earned her praise from peers and fans.

Actress and singer Vanessa Hudgens is dedicating her Grease: Live! performance Sunday night (Jan. 31) to her father, who passed away Saturday after battling cancer.

Vanessa Hudgens is set to take the stage in “Grease: Live” tonight at 7 p.m. E.T. She stars alongside actress Julianne Hough, who plays Sandy, and Aaron Tveit, who plays Danny. “Let me tell you, I hate cancer”. From the moment she appeared on camera – and especially during “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee” – she was every bit the spunky, headstrong Rizzo we hoped she’d be. She has received tweets from Debra Messing, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ashley Tisdale, Sarah Hyland, and many others.

Picking up the Breakthrough Performer award at the 2015 Industry Dance Awards & Cancer Benefit Show, she said: “Last year, my boyfriend, Austin, lost his mom, Lori, to cancer, and my dad has just been recently diagnosed with stage four cancer”.

Of course, you’d never know about Hudgens’ internal struggles by watching her in Grease: Live.