The crowd at Glastonbury wasn’t ready for that yet, but their kids are gonna love it. Michael J. Fox, 63, joined Coldplay onstage to play guitar during the band’s Glastonbury festival performance on Saturday. Chris Martin took a moment to thank the “Back to the Future” star, who has Parkinson’s disease and performed in a wheelchair.
“The main reason why we’re in a band is because of watching ‘Back to the Future,’ so thank you to our hero forever, and one of the most amazing people on Earth, Mr. Michael J. Fox,” Martin, 47, told the crowd. “Thank you so much, Michael.”
Fox’s character in “Back to the Future,” Marty McFly, famously plays guitar during a key scene at a school dance in 1955. Marty performs “Johnny B. Goode” years before the song’s debut, inspiring Chuck Berry to record it, and stuns the crowd into silence with his forward-looking guitar solo. “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet,” McFly tells the flabbergasted audience, “but your kids are gonna love it.”
On “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in 2022, Martin said this scene “made me want to be in a band.” As Fox played the guitar at Glastonbury, Martin nodded to the movie’s “Johnny B. Goode” scene by singing, “Go, Johnny, go, go, go!”
This isn’t the first time Fox has performed with Coldplay. In 2016, he joined the band at a show in New Jersey to play “Earth Angel” and “Johnny B. Goode,” both songs from the “Back to the Future” school dance scene. Onstage, Martin described “Back to the Future” as his and his son Moses’ “favorite movie of all time.”
In last year’s raw documentary “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” Fox explored his career and battle with Parkinson’s, which he was diagnosed with at age 29. He released a memoir, “No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality,” in 2020. In February, Fox received a standing ovation at the British Academy Film Awards as he got up from his wheelchair and presented the best film award. Host David Tennant described the actor as a “true legend of cinema.”
Other highlights from Glastonbury on Saturday include a Tom Cruise sighting. The actor was spotted with his “Mission: Impossible” co-star Simon Pegg, who sang along to Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” according to videos shared on social media. The appearance came a week after Cruise attended Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in London alongside other stars including Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Liam Hemsworth, Hugh Grant, and Greta Gerwig.
Michael J. Fox returned to the stage Saturday night for a surprise performance with Coldplay in front of an estimated 100,000 fans at the Glastonbury music festival. The “Back to the Future” star joined the band for two of their songs during the encore section, where frontman Chris Martin launched into a freestyle riff in the middle of their 2021 hit “Humankind.”
“Here is another legendary Michael,” Martin said about Fox after also introducing festival founder Sir Michael Eavis. “One who just totally rocks. With his Chuck Berry riff and the way he punched Biff: ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Michael J. Fox.”
Fox, 63, who has been battling Parkinson’s Disease since 1991, was bound to a wheelchair as he held a guitar in his lap during the band’s headlining set. While leading the large crowd in singing the 2005 smash hit “Fix You,” Martin knelt next to Fox who was strumming away.
During the song’s interlude, Martin sang “Go, Johnny, Go, Go, Go” a call back to “Back to the Future” where Fox’s character, Marty McFly, performed Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” at his parents’ high school dance. As Fox left the stage, Martin revealed the actor was the reason the 7-time Grammy-winning band formed in the first place.
“Especially thank you to the main reason why we’re in a band, is because of watching ‘Back to the Future,’” he told the crowd. “So thank you to our hero forever, and one of the most amazing people on Earth, Mr. Michael J. Fox,” Martin added. “Thank you so much, our hero.”
Fox also performed with Coldplay at MetLife Stadium in July 2016, where they performed “Johnny B. Goode” in its entirety. Coldplay made history at the festival as this year’s appearance marks the British rock band’s fifth time headlining the five-day music carnival — the first act to do so.
The band first performed in 1999 before making their headlining debut in 2002, as a last-minute replacement for the Strokes, according to Variety. They returned to Pilton, Somerset farm in 2005, 2011, 2016, and 2024.
Fox retired from acting in 2020 but revealed in April that he is open to returning if he was offered. “If someone offers me a part and I do it and I have a good time, great. I mean, the documentary was a big thrill,” Fox told Entertainment Tonight at the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s A Country Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson’s event.
It was a blast from the past as “Back to the Future” star Michael J. Fox joined Coldplay onstage for a surprise performance at the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset, England. The retired actor, 63, has been a devoted Parkinson’s disease activist since he was diagnosed with the long-term neurodegenerative disease at age 29. Fox, who now uses a wheelchair, played a guitar in his lap during “Humankind” and “Fix You.”
Fox had previously performed “Johnny B. Goode” with Coldplay after the band brought him out for another surprise appearance in New York in 2016. The first act to headline the Glastonbury music festival for a fifth time, Coldplay revealed to the audience Saturday that Fox had inspired the British rock band’s formation in the first place with his performance as teenager Marty McFly in the iconic 1985 film.
“The main reason that we’re in a band is cause of watching ‘Back to the Future,’” frontman Chris Martin said during the show. “So thank you to our hero forever, and one of the most amazing people on Earth, Mr. Michael J. Fox.” Martin led the crowd as they sang along to the band’s 2005 hit “Fix You,” during which he snuck in a reference to the movie. “Go, Johnny, go, go, go,” he sang during the interlude, a callback to Fox’s McFly performing Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” at his parents’ high school dance.
When introducing him to the audience Saturday, Martin described Fox in a singsong voice as “one who just totally rocks, with his Chuck Berry riff and the way he punched Biff,” the trilogy’s main antagonist. Before retiring from acting in 2020, Fox’s decades-long career earned him five Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Grammy Award. He founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000 with the aim of finding treatments and an eventual cure for Parkinson’s disease.
Michael J. Fox is a star onscreen and on the stage! The “Back to the Future” actor made a surprise appearance at Glastonbury Festival Saturday by joining Coldplay onstage during the band’s set. Fox, 63, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease since 1991, was in his wheelchair onstage playing guitar during the band’s performance of their hits, “Humankind” and “Fix You.”
Following the performance, the band’s frontman Chris Martin gave Fox a sweet shoutout, crediting the actor for being the inspiration behind the band’s music career. “The main reason why we’re in a band is because of watching ‘Back to the Future,'” Martin said. “So thank you to our hero forever, one of the most amazing people on earth, Mr. Michael J. Fox, thank you so much Michael, our hero.”
Fox played the role of teenager Marty McFly in the 1985 film. Martin introduced Fox to the Glastonbury audience by referencing his character in the movie. “With his Chuck Berry riff and the way he punched Biff: ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Michael J. Fox,” Martin said. Fox retired from acting in 2020 due to the progression of his Parkinson’s disease.
He founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000 and the foundation has since become the largest non-profit funder of Parkinson’s disease research in the world and has funded more than $1.5 billion of research projects, according to the foundation’s website. This isn’t the first time Fox has joined the band for a performance, the actor and Coldplay teamed up in July 2016 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey when Coldplay performed “Johnny B. Goode,” the Chuck Berry song featured in “Back to the Future.”
Source: USA TODAY, NBC News, Entertainment Tonight
