Childish Gambino stroke: Donald Glover reveals health battle that caused him to cancel his 2024 tour
Musician and actor Donald Glover has revealed that he suffered from a stroke last year that forced him to cancel his 2024 tour.
The rapper, who performs under the name Childish Gambino, was performing at Camp Flog Gnaw festival in Los Angeles on Saturday night (November 22) when he made the admission to the crowd. He told his fans: “I was doing this world tour. I was having lots of fun, really loving seeing you guys out there.
“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.’”
Glover, 42, added: “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.’ I know it’s not true.”
Glover, who is also famed for his roles in shows such as Atlanta, Community, and Mr & Mrs Smith, was forced to cancel his 2024 world tour dates, which included stops in the UK and Ireland. He had been due to visit cities such as London, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, and Birmingham in November and December 2024, but told fans around a month before shows kicked off: “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 US tour in the time asked. As of now I have surgery scheduled and need time out to heal.” Glover, who had already postponed his world tour earlier that year, said at the time that his “path to recovery is something I need to confront seriously”.
During Saturday’s performance, he also told fans of other health conditions he had been battling in recent years, including undergoing surgery after doctors found a hole in his heart. He said: “They say everybody has two lives and the second life starts when you realise 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.”
Referencing his wife Michelle White, whom he married in 2024, Glover added: “As my wife says, which I love, 'If this life is the flavour, as soon as I'm done, give me another scoop.’”