Ellen DeGeneres, Kellie Pickler 2012: Singer Speaks About Inspiration Behind Shaved Head

Kellie Pickler, 26-year-old singer and former "American Idol" contestant, opened up to Ellen DeGeneres about getting her head shaved in solidarity with her best friend, Summer Miller, who is fighting breast cancer.

During the talk show's episode -- set to air Sept. 17 -- Pickler declared "it's just hair."

Like Us on Facebook

Miller was diagnosed with breast cancer in June and is undergoing chemotherapy.

"She just started chemo last week," Pickler told DeGeneres, according to OnTheRedCarpet.com. "She's doing good. It's hard, it's hard on your body, it's hard on your mind. It's just hard. It's not an easy thing to go through. But she's a strong woman and she's handled it with such grace."

Pickler and Miller decided to get their heads shaven together.

"When Summer was diagnosed with breast cancer back in June we made a pact that we'd shave our heads together," she said. "I think that the last thing you want anyone that you love to feel like is that they're ... you don't want them to walk through the valley alone. I think it's important to have a cancer buddy I guess you can say. That's what everyone has been calling us. Cancer buddies."

Pickler decided to chop her hair off first while Miller joked she wasn't going to go through with it.

"I went first and...that is probably one of the most beautiful moments of my life," she said, according to the Daily Mail. "Just being able to do that with her...she's my big sister. She really is. We're not blood kin but we are sisters."

In a sense, Pickler also shaved her head in memory of her grandma, "the woman that I called mom." Her grandma died the morning after she was diagnosed with a form of cancer.

Since finishing sixth-place on the fifth season of American Idol, Pickler has released three albums including "Small Town Girl."

In January 2011, Pickler and songwriter Kyle Jacobs married in Antigua.