It is one of the perks of being a wildly successful pop star.
On Sunday, five days before Santa’s arrival, Lizzo surprised her mother, Shari Johnson-Jefferson, and gave her a brand new car for Christmas.
‘Got my mommy a brand new Audi for Xmas,’ the singer-musician, 32, shared on Instagram along with a video of the emotional gift-giving moment that saw her mom shed plenty of tears of joy over her daughter’s generosity.
Merry Christmas: Lizzo, 32, surprised her mother, Shari Johnson-Jefferson, on Sunday and gave her a brand new car for Christmas
The video begins with Johnson-Jefferson being led outside of her home with her eyes closed as several family members seemingly looked on in anticipation.
‘Okay, merry Christmas mommy — open your eyes,’ Lizzo (born Melissa Viviane Jefferson) said from behind the camera with excitement just as her mother is guided to turn to her left.
With her hands nervously clenched together, her mother opened her eyes and began crying at the sight of her new black Audi that came complete with a red bow on top of the front hood.
The video begins with Johnson-Jefferson being led outside of her home with her eyes closed as several family members seemingly looked on in anticipation
Dramatic build-up: ‘Okay, merry Christmas mommy — open your eyes,’ Lizzo (born Melissa Viviane Jefferson) said from behind the camera just as her mother is guided to turn to her left
Tis’ the season: With her hands nervously clenched together, her mother opened her eyes and began crying at the sight of her new black Audi that came complete with a red bow
‘Oh God, thank you so much,’ she said as she simultaneously went in to give her daughter a big hug. ‘Oh My God.’
‘I got you an Audi girl,’ the Truth Hurts rapper explained as family members clapped and cheered in the background. ‘That’s an Audi; can’t you see the circles [emblem] on it — come on!’
With the happy tears still flowing, Johnson-Jefferson walked towards the car for a closer look and confessed: ‘You never expect this to happen to yourself,’ which elicited an emotional, ‘ahhhhh,’ from Lizzo.
‘I remember crying in my car when my daddy passed, no job no money nowhere to live, wishing I could one day provide for my family,’ Lizzo added in the caption.
‘I couldn’t do it for my dad so ima make sure I spoil Mama. Happy holidays y’all.’
Glowing with joy: ‘Oh God, thank you so much,’ Johnson-Jefferson said as she simultaneously went in to give her daughter a big hug
Pproud mama: With the happy tears still flowing, Johnson-Jefferson walked towards the car for a closer look and confessed: ‘You never expect this to happen to yourself’
Life moments: Family could be heard clapping and cheering during Lizzo’s big surprise
Lizzo’s father, Michael Jefferson, passed away in 2010 when she was a student on a music scholarship at the University of Houston. His death threw her into a deep depression.
‘I kind of really gave up,’ she confessed in an interview with CBS This Morning in January.
‘I was depressed. I didn’t have a purpose, like I didn’t feel like I had a purpose for being a musician or anything. So that turned into, “Oh can I sleep on your couch,” and that eventually, I got really guilt-ridden. So all I had was this car. It was a Subaru.’
She added, ‘That was my home for a little. I spent Thanksgiving in that car, and I remember I cried myself to sleep.’
Lizzo went into a deep depression following her father’s death in 2010; in a birthday post to her dad, Michael Jefferson, in 2019 the musician thanked him for’ showing me my power’, and for reminding her ‘not to be afraid of that power’; Lizzo is pictured with her mom and dad
In a happy birthday post for her late father in September 2019, Lizzo thanked her him for ‘showing me my power’, and for reminding her ‘not to be afraid of that power.’
‘I still struggle with fear and anxiety… everyday is a struggle… but I know I can give my fears to you, and that you’ll always be there to protect me from above.’
No doubt, Lizzo would have made her father proud with her meteoric rise as a chart-topping artist with three Grammy Awards, a Billboard Award, BET Award, two iHeartRadio Music Awards and two Soul Train Music Awards since 2019.
Making them proud: Lizzo has had a meteoric rise to pop stardom over the last couple of years; she’s pictured with her mother holding one of her gold records in NYC September 2019