DJ Tiësto Withdraws From Super Bowl LVIII Performance Due To ‘Personal Family Emergency’

On Thursday, DJ Tiësto made the difficult decision to cancel his appearance as the official DJ for Super Bowl LVIII, citing a “personal family emergency.” The announcement was made via Tiësto’s social media channels merely three days before the highly anticipated event.

Tiësto shared, “Me and my team have been preparing something truly special for months, but a personal family emergency is forcing me to return home Sunday morning. It was a tough decision to miss the game, but family always comes first. Thank you to the @NFL for the collaboration and looking forward to working with them to deliver something incredible together in the future!”

An NFL representative confirmed to Variety that a replacement for Tiësto is being arranged, although there are no further details at this time.

Traditionally, the Super Bowl has featured a guest “in-game” DJ through the pregame warmups of the players. DJ Khaled set the trend in Miami, followed by D-Nice in Tampa Bay, Zedd in Los Angeles, and DJ Snake in Phoenix.

However, this year was set to be groundbreaking as Tiësto was scheduled to play throughout the entire game. Just days ago, Tiësto spoke with Variety about his excitement and nerves over the upcoming Super Bowl performance, “Two hundred million people watching? Yeah, that’s a bit of pressure…But I’m more excited than anything else. A lot of people who have never heard of Tiësto will know about me.”

Tiësto expressed his inclination toward the incorporation of the Beastie Boys’ iconic track, “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party),” which has become synonymous with Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end and Taylor Swift‘s partner, Travis Kelce.

He explained, “I’ll use the tempo of that song in a track angled toward the Super Bowl, but still doing my own thing… I might have to do something with Taylor Swift as well.”

Throughout his illustrious three-decade career, Tiësto, originally from the Netherlands, has consistently held a prominent position within the realm of electronic dance music. Ever since he joined the Atlantic Records roster in 2020, he has elevated his profile through notable collaborations with artists such as Karol G, Tate McRae, Ava Max, Ty Dolla $ign, Tears for Fears, and Heidi Klum. Notably, Tiësto’s remix of ‘Renaissance,’ the theme song for the popular series The White Lotus, remains the sole official remix of the show.

Last summer, Tiesto performed at New York City’s Electric Zoo festival, where he was the headliner.