Coldplay headlined the Glastonbury Festival in England on Saturday, June 29. And the band had a big surprise in store for their audience: a song with Michael J. Fox! The cult actor from the “Back to the Future” trilogy appeared on stage in front of tearful fans to accompany Chris Martin and his band on guitar for “Fix You.”
In a video shared by the BBC, the singer can be seen paying tribute to “two Michaels”. He first welcomes the presence of Michael Eavis, the legendary farmer founder of Glastonbury, 88 years old, before welcoming the interpreter of Marty McFly: “With his Chuck Berry riff and the way he hit Biff: ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Michael J. Fox.” The actor, who has been fighting Parkinson’s disease for more than thirty years, appears in a wheelchair. He played seated, not without throwing his legs in the air, rock’n’roll style.
After the song, Chris Martin said, “The main reason we’re in a band is ‘Back to the Future.’ So thanks to Michael, our hero.” He has previously said that seeing Michael J. Fox perform “Johnny B. Goode” on screen made him want to make music. Coldplay and the actor have also had the opportunity to perform Chuck Berry’s song together several times.
In an interview with CBS in 2023, Michael J. Fox, 62, confided: “I’m not going to lie. It’s getting hard, it’s getting very hard. It’s getting more and more difficult. Every day it gets more and more difficult. But it’s like that.”
