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Michael J. Fox Riffs with Coldplay During Glastonbury Set

Sorry, folks, Chris Martin beat you to the Back to the Future jokes about Chuck Berry and Biff.
Michael J. Fox at MegaCon Orlando 2024
Actor Michael J. Fox during the “Back to the Future” reunion at MegaCon Orlando 2024 at Orange County Convention Center on February 01, 2024 in Orlando, Florida.Gerardo Mora/Getty Images

It's been 41 years since Michael J. Fox channeled Chuck Berry in Back to the Future, but you might not have known that Saturday. That's when the erstwhile Marty McFly again took the stage, guitar in hand—but this time, the audience wasn't a group of 1950s prom-goers, it was the crowd assembled at the U.K.'s Glastonbury Festival to watch Coldplay roll out its greatest hits.

The music festival, which runs from June 26-30, lists Dua Lipa, Shania Twain, and PJ Harvey as performers this year, with Coldplay headlining Saturday's roster of shows. The 26-year-old band is no stranger to celebrity cameos: Prince Harry, for example, joined them onstage in 2016. But lead singer Chris Martin seemed especially excited last night as he called the TV veteran and Parkinson's disease cure advocate out, summoning him to the stage for one of the band's biggest hits.

Jonny Buckland, Chris Martin and Guy Berryman of Coldplay perform as the band headline the Pyramid stage during day four of Glastonbury Festival 2024 at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 29, 2024 in Glastonbury, England.

Samir Hussein

According to Variety, Martin announced “With his Chuck Berry riff and the way he punched Biff: ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Michael J. Fox.” Using a wheelchair, Fox entered the stage, playing guitar with the band for their songs “Humankind” and 2005 hit “Fix You,” a song Martin has said was written to console then-wife Gwyneth Paltrow in her grief following her father's 2002 death. BBC Music has shared video of the performance via YouTube.

Following the show, Martin said “The main reason we’re in a band is because of Back to the Future. So thank you to Michael, our hero.”

Chris Martin of Coldplay performs as the band headline the Pyramid stage during day four of Glastonbury Festival 2024 at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 29, 2024 in Glastonbury, England.

Samir Hussein

This wasn't the first time Fox joined the band on stage, nor was it the first time Martin has called Fox—who has been battling Parkinson's since 1991—out for his heroism. In July of 2016, Fox joined Coldplay on stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where the actor took lead guitar for the Berry classic “Johnny B. Goode.”

“Our hero, Mr. Michael J. Fox,” Martin said then. “That was our dream come true,” Martin said at the end of the song. “Thank you, Michael. Thank you.”