Actress Vanessa Hudgens vowed to dedicate her Grease Live performance to her late father, who died just hours before she was due to take to stage.

The former High School Musical star told her 5.7 million Twitter followers that her "daddy" had lost his battle with cancer.

She shared the news just hours before she was due to perform in Fox's eagerly-awaited production of Grease Live.

The 27-year-old, who stars as Rizzo, said she wanted to "do the show in his honour".

Hudgens first shared news of her father's illness back in August when she asked fans to "pray for his healing".