Donald Glover said he canceled the remaining dates of his New World Tour last year after suffering a stroke during a live performance.
Glover opened up about the ordeal Saturday during his set at Camp Flog Gnaw in Los Angeles, where he appeared as Childish Gambino and recounted a series of health problems he experienced while touring.
Glover told the audience the episode began with sudden, severe head pain during a show in Louisiana.
Despite the symptoms, he completed the performance and traveled to Houston, where he was prompted to seek medical care.
"I had a really bad pain in my head in Louisiana and I did the show anyway," he said, according to video of the concert on 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,'" he continued. "And the first thing I thought was like, 'Oh, here I am still copying Jamie Foxx.' That's really like the second thing. The first thing was like, 'I'm letting everybody down.'"
The 42-year-old said the diagnosis was only one of several serious complications he faced during that time.
He told the crowd that he had also broken his foot and later learned that doctors had found a hole in his heart, requiring a procedure and a second surgery soon after.
"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 said.
Glover used his experiences to encourage the audience to focus on personal priorities and not delay life decisions.
"They say everybody has two lives and the second life starts when you realize you have one. You got one life, guys. And I gotta be honest, the life I've lived with you guys has been such a blessing," he said. "You should be living your life how you want. If we have to do this again, it can only get better."
Glover postponed the remaining North American shows on the New World Tour in September 2023, initially describing the pause as a step back to address physical health concerns.
The dates were canceled outright the following month as he continued treatment and recovery.
The tour was set to promote his latest music and take him through a wide stretch of U.S. cities before it was cut short.
Glover has performed as Childish Gambino for more than a decade, releasing six albums and earning five Grammy Awards. Last year, he said he planned to retire the moniker.
"It really was just like, 'Oh, it's done,'" he told The New York Times. "It's not fulfilling. And I just felt like I didn't need to build in this way anymore."
He added at the time that age and perspective were influencing his decisions.
"I'm not 25 anymore, standing in front of a boulder like, 'This has to move.' You give what you can, but there's beauty everywhere in every moment," he said. "You don't have to build it. You don't have to search for it."
Glover also linked the transition to fatherhood.
"When I put my son on my shoulders, I feel deep joy," he said.
"That's real. No one on their deathbed is going to look back and say, 'Thank God I avoided being cringe.'"
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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