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.
