NEED TO KNOW
Donald Glover is opening up about his recent health scare.
During a Nov. 22 performance at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw, the 42-year-old musician, who performs under his Childish Gambino moniker, shed some light on the “ailment” that forced him to cancel the remainder of his New World Tour last year.
“I had a really bad pain in my head in Louisiana and I did the show anyway,” Glover explained onstage, per clips shared to social media. “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.’ ”
“The first thing I thought was like, ‘Oh, here I am still copying Jamie Foxx,’ ” he quipped, referring to the Blame It singer’s 2023 near-fatal stroke. “That’s really like the second thing. The first thing was like, ‘I’m letting everybody down,’ ” Glover continued.
Not long after finding out he had suffered a stroke, the Community actor broke his foot, which led to another concerning medical discovery.
“They found a hole in my heart … so I had this surgery, and then I had to have another surgery,” Glover continued onstage. “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.”
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Back in September 2024, Glover postponed the remaining North American dates of his The New World Tour to focus on his “physical health for a few weeks.” The following month, however, he was forced to cancel the dates altogether due to his ongoing health issues.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
“After my show in New Orleans, I went to the hospital in Houston to make sure of an ailment that had become apparent,” he wrote in a since-deleted statement shared to his social media. “After being assessed, it became clear I would not perform that night, and after more tests, I could not perform the rest of the US tour in the time asked. As of now I have surgery scheduled and need time out to heal.”
“My path to recovery is something I need to confront seriously,” he continued. “With that said, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the North American tour and the UK and European dates.”
Soon after, a handful of shows scheduled to occur in Australia and New Zealand faced the same fate.
“Unfortunately, my path to recovery is taking longer than expected,” Glover wrote in a statement to ticketholders last November. “The upcoming concerts in Australia and New Zealand are canceled. One of the last things I’d ever want to do is disappoint my fans.”
He added: “I really appreciate the support you have shown and know that I will do what I can to give u an exceptional experience when the time is right. Thank you.”
