Donald Glover Reveals He Suffered a Stroke During 2024 Childish Gambino Tour

Donald Glover told fans at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival on Saturday night (Nov. 22) that he suffered a stroke last year while touring under his Childish Gambino moniker — an episode that ultimately led to the cancellation of his world tour.

During his set at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Glover recounted the medical emergency that struck mid-tour in 2024. He explained that the symptoms began after a show in New Orleans, where he experienced a sudden, intense head pain and blurred vision. Despite performing through the discomfort, he later sought medical attention in Houston, where doctors informed him he had experienced a stroke.

“I had a really bad pain in my head in Louisiana and I did the show anyway,” he told the crowd. “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 added that his first reaction was thinking he had “let everybody down,” before joking that he felt like he was “copying Jamie Foxx” — whose own stroke in 2023 made global headlines.

Glover said the stroke was only part of what he faced medically. He also revealed he had broken his foot around the same time, and that doctors discovered a hole in his heart that required two surgeries.

“They say everybody has two lives, and the second life starts when you realize you have one,” he told fans. “You’ve got one life, and the life I’ve lived with you guys has been such a blessing.”

The medical complications forced Glover to cancel the remainder of his planned dates, including U.S., U.K., European and Australian shows. At the time, he publicly referred to the incident only as an “ailment,” noting that his recovery was taking longer than expected.

Glover released Bando Stone & the New World in 2024 — which he billed as the final Childish Gambino album — and had planned the now-canceled tour as a farewell era for the stage name. The five-time Grammy winner has since shifted focus back to film and television projects under his own name.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.