Taylor Swift Country Music Hall of Fame Donation Is Special Thank-You to Fans

Taylor Swift generously donated $4 million to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum last year, to fund a new area of the museum, which will be appropriately called the Taylor Swift Education Center. The songstress recently revealed why it was important for her to make such a sizable contribution.

"I learned all about country music through what I saw on TV and the research that I did," Taylor explains. "I didn't really know that there was a museum you could go to, to see all these different outfits from all these legends. I didn't know that you could go to a place and see it all in person. So, it's gonna be amazing, I think, for kids to get to have a place where they can go and learn what they possibly can."

The singer-songwriter says the education center also provided a way for her to pay back fans for their support. "They put me in a position to do that, [to] raise awareness for things that need attention and write a song for this, or show up for that, or donate money for this."

The Taylor Swift Education Center, which is part of the museum's $75 million expansion plan, is scheduled to open in early 2014, and will include two stories, three classrooms and a state-of-the-art children's exhibit gallery.

Taylor will kick off her Red tour on Wednesday (March 13) with two shows in Omaha, Neb., with Ed Sheeran serving as her opening act. See al list of her upcoming concert dates here.