Coachella DJ Michael Bibi Performs First Festival Show After Cancer Diagnosis: ‘It Was Emotional’

Bibi was diagnosed with central nervous system lymphoma, a rare type of cancer where malignant cells from lymph tissue form in the brain or spinal cord

Michael Bibi is opening up about returning to the festival stage after being diagnosed with cancer last year.

The British DJ, 33, shared on Instagram ahead of his Coachella performance on Saturday, April 13 that it had been “one year” since doctors found a tumor in the center of his brain and he was “finally” getting the chance to return to performing.

“Today I’m finally preparing to go back to doing what I love & have missed so much… it doesn’t quite feel real but I think it’s actually happening!" he wrote.

The return was a long time coming for the DJ who went through several months of treatment after revealing his diagnosis in June 2023. At the time, he wrote on Instagram that he had been diagnosed with central nervous system lymphoma, a rare cancer where malignant cells from lymph tissue form in the brain or spinal cord, according to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

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Just a few months later on Dec. 5, 2023, he announced on Instagram that he was “officially in remission," writing that his doctors had found “no cancer in my body.” However, he shared that he was “still very tired” at the time and was “on a lot of meds.”

After a few more months of healing, Bibi was ready to return to the festival stage at Coachella, but he told the BBC that playing music in front of a large crowd was an “emotional” experience.

"It was emotional, it was intense — there was happiness, there was some sadness,” Bibi told the outlet of his performance. "And there was just a huge range of emotions coming through."

He noted that it was a “big step in itself” just to get on a plane from the U.K. to the U.S. for the festival, especially since he had to “isolate” from people while he was getting his treatments last year.

"And then adding on top of that, doing my first show and coming to a festival, it was a lot," he told the outlet. "But it actually gives you a sense of purpose again, moving and coming back out into reality and seeing people.”

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"So getting back out into the world and connecting with human beings is a good feeling," he added.

The DJ also noted that he was "anxious" to perform again, but he was not alone and had support from his family, especially his mother, who flew out to the festival with him.

"The highlight of my weekend was walking around the festival with my mum, just looking at the excitement in her eyes and reminding me of how excited I was the first time I ever went," he said.

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The DJ added that he was currently “physically well” but is still “processing” everything that has happened to him up until this point.

“Because I think when you get into a really intense situation, you kind of go into fight or flight mode,” he told the BBC. "And you just have to get through that moment and period of time and you're not really processing everything that's happening to you."

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