Childish Gambino fans had no idea how close they came to losing the musician last year. Back in 2024, Donald Glover — the Community star who also created and headlined FX’s acclaimed series Atlanta — abruptly shut down the U.S., U.K., and European legs of The New World Tour, citing only an unspecified surgery and a need for time away.
In a since-deleted message on X (captured by Variety), he told fans, “After my show in New Orleans, I went to the hospital in Houston to make sure of an ailment that had become apparent. After being assessed, it became clear i would not perform that night, and after more tests, i could not perform the rest of the U.S. tour in the time asked. As of now I have surgery scheduled and need time out to heal.”
He added at the time, “My path to recovery is something I need to confront seriously. With that said, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the North American tour and the U.K. and European dates. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase. I want nothing more than to bring this show to the fans and perform. Until then, thanks for love, privacy, and support.”
Now, in his first major performance since the cancellation, Glover is finally explaining what was really going on.
Taking the stage at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival, the “3005” artist paused his set to recount the frightening series of events that took him off the road. Glover described a severe pain that hit him mid-tour, one that messed with his vision and sent him to the hospital.
“I had a really bad pain in my head in Louisiana and I did the show anyway. 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.’ And the first thing I thought was like, ‘Oh, here I am still copying Jamie Foxx,’” he joked. “That’s really like the second thing. The first thing was like, ‘I’m letting everybody down.’”
What followed was an even more sobering stretch of health setbacks. “I broke my foot… They found a hole in my heart… so I had this surgery, and then I had to have another surgery,” he told the crowd.
The near-death experience fundamentally shifted his perspective. “They say everybody has two lives and the second life starts when you realize you have one… You should be living your life how you want. If we have to do this again, it can only get better,” he said.
Glover’s return to the stage may be triumphant — but now fans know just how much it took to get there.