Actor and musician Donald Glover has revealed the serious health challenges that led to the cancellation of his New World Tour last year. The multi-hyphenate star, known musically as Childish Gambino, opened up about the ordeal during his performance at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival over the weekend.
Speaking candidly onstage, Glover recounted discovering that he had suffered a stroke while performing on tour.
“I had a really bad pain in my head in Louisiana, and I did the show anyway,” he said in footage shared online. “I couldn’t really see well, so when we went to Houston, I went to the hospital, and the doctor was like, ‘You had a stroke.’”
He added that his initial reaction was concern for fans and those depending on him:
“The first thing was like, ‘I’m letting everybody down.’”
Glover also joked about the parallels to actor Jamie Foxx, who recently experienced health issues of his own.
“The second thing I thought was, ‘Here I am still copying Jamie Foxx.’”
The Grammy-winning artist went on to disclose that doctors found an additional health complication—a hole in his heart—which required surgery, followed by a second procedure.
After describing the series of frightening medical events, Glover used the moment to urge fans to embrace life fully:
“They say everybody has two lives, and the second life starts when you realise you have one. You’ve got one life. And the life I’ve lived with you guys has been such a blessing. You should be living your life how you want. If we have to do this again, it can only get better.”
Glover has not yet announced whether the cancelled tour will be rescheduled.
