Posted on: February 8, 2024, 11:23h.
Last updated on: February 8, 2024, 11:23h.
Just three days before Super Bowl LVIII, one of its key promised performers, DJ Tiesto, pulled out due to what he described on social media as “a personal family emergency.”
“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,” the 55-year-old superstar DJ wrote on Thursday.
Tiesto will be replaced by Kaskade, who will become the first Super Bowl DJ to play the full game, spinning during featured breaks for CBS cameras. (The Super Bowl has used guest “in-game” DJs since 2020, but they only performed during players’ pregame warmups.)
Born Ryan Gary Raddon 52 years ago in Chicago, Kaskade was voted “America’s Best DJ” by DJ Times in 2011 and 2013.
“As a kid who grew up in Chicago watching the NFL Super Bowl every year with my family, this chance to actually be part of it is absolutely mind blowing,” the music producer and DJ tweeted on Thursday. “Las Vegas has been my second home for the past decade … To be able to be the first electronic musician to be part of the full game experience of the Super Bowl held in Las Vegas seems like coming home, and I’m beyond excited to represent my community.”
Tiesto said it was a “tough decision: but that “family always comes first.” The nature of the emergency was not disclosed.
Super Bowl LVIII’s other musical performers will include a halftime show by Usher featuring special guests. Before the game, Reba McEntire will sing the National Anthem, Post Malone will perform “America the Beautiful,” and Andra Day will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
