Childish Gambino, the musician alter ego of actor Donald Glover, urged fans at Friday night’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival to live in the moment during an emotional speech about his father and rappers Nipsey Hussle and Mac Miller, all of whom died in the past eight months.
Speaking during his Friday set, Glover appeared to cry after reflecting on mortality.
“What I’m starting to realize is all we really have is memories at the end of day,” Glover said after mentioning he lost his father, Nipsey and Miller.
An autopsy showed Miller, a friend of Glover’s, died in September 2018 from an accidental drug overdose of fentanyl and cocaine. Glover told fans at a concert in December that his father had recently died. And last month, Nipsey, who had collaborated with Childish Gambino, was shot and killed in South Los Angeles.
“There’s a hundred-thousand of you out here right now. There’s a good chance that some of y’all, at least one of y’all, won’t see next week,” he added. “So what I’m saying is, while you’re here, while we’re here, feel something, and pass it on.”
Childish Gambino breaks down a little talking about Nipsey Hussle, Mac Miller, & his late father 🥺😢🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/gxQW99wA7y
— Party at the Rooftop (@AtRooftop) April 13, 2019
Before performing his next song, Glover appeared to wipe tears from his eyes. “This song is for all of you guys,” he added. “This song is for everything we’ve lost and everything we stand to gain in the future. Because the future is now.”
When Glover told concertgoers in December that his father had died, he mentioned that he “lost a lot of good people in 2018,” according to Variety.