Childish Gambino cancels Australia and New Zealand tour as recovery from surgery takes “longer than expected”

Childish Gambino has announced the cancellation of his Australian and New Zealand tour dates next year.

Gambino – aka Donald Glover – was due to perform in New Zealand in late January 2024 and Australia in February. However ticketing platform Ticketek, per ABC’s tripleJ, has now issued an email to ticket holders confirming that the tour has now been cancelled completely.

In the email, they included a statement from Glover, which read: “Unfortunately, my path to recovery is taking longer than expected. The upcoming concerts in Australia and New Zealand are cancelled. One of the last things I’d ever want to do is disappoint my fans. I really appreciate the support you have shown and know that I will do what I can to give you an exceptional experience when the time is right. Thank you.”

The cancellation comes after Childish Gambino in October similarly cancelled his North American, UK and European tour dates to undergo surgery for an undisclosed issue. At the time, the rapper wrote on social media: “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 assesed, 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.”

The tour – and it’s subsequent cancellation – followed the release of Glover’s new album ‘Bando Stone and The New World’, which was released earlier this year and marked the final album under his Childish Gambino moniker.

The rapper, actor and comedian recently explained his reasoning for bidding adieu to Gambino, saying that while recording the album he came to a realisation: “It really was just like, ‘Oh, it’s done.’ It’s not fulfilling. And I just felt like I didn’t need to build in this way anymore.”

He also said other factors include the “continued decline of album consumption” and “disruptions in the touring business” have played into his decision to retire Childish Gambino. He’s also no longer interested in chasing chart success.

“Success to me is, honestly, being able to put out a wide-scale album that I would listen to,” he said. “For this album, I really wanted to be able to play big rooms and have big, anthemic songs that fill those rooms, so that people feel a sense of togetherness.”

Kyann-Syan Williams wrote of ‘Bando Stone and The New World’ in a four-star review for NME: “Glover has made a record as otherworldly as his other outings. Yet, ‘Bando Stone and The New World’ stumbles slightly – where its sonic variety is exciting, it lacks a clear sense of cohesion or theme compared to his previous work – making it a bittersweet farewell to the legend of Childish Gambino.”