Donald Glover health crisis forced him to halt his New World Tour in a moment that stunned a packed crowd at Tyler the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw
Donald Glover used his stage time at Tyler, the Creator‘s Camp Flog Gnaw on Saturday to lay bare the real reason he shut down his 2024 New World Tour and the confession hit the festival with the weight of a plot twist no one saw coming.
The creator behind Childish Gambino told the audience he suffered a stroke early in the run and pushed himself through shows despite knowing something was seriously wrong.
Glover told fans he first felt the danger creeping up backstage in Louisiana when a burst of pain tore through his head before a scheduled performance.
“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,’” he said.
The moment stayed heavy but Glover still slipped in humor. “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 scare did not end there. Glover revealed doctors later uncovered a structural problem in his heart that added a second layer of risk to his already fragile condition.
“They found a hole in my heart,” he told the crowd before explaining the series of procedures that followed. “So I had this surgery and then I had to have another surgery.”
The entertainer paused while describing how the back-to-back health emergencies forced him to confront how easily everything can fall apart.
“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.”
At the time of the tour’s collapse Glover released a post on X that hinted at an unspecified “ailment” that needed “more tests” and a surgery. “I want nothing more than to bring this show to the fans and perform,” he wrote before deleting the message. “Until then thanks for love privacy and support.”
Saturday’s disclosure brought an emotional closing chapter to a mystery that followed him all year.