Tiësto has pulled out of his Super Bowl performance due to a family emergency. The news came in an announcement from the artist posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
"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 DJ said on Thursday, Feb. 8.
"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 spokesperson told Variety there are plans to find a replacement, but no other information about that is available at this time. The league didn't immediately respond to Q's request for comment.
The EDM artist was supposed to play a set as players warm-up on Sunday, Feb. 11 and provide music during breaks in the game, some of which would have been televised.
Other artists like DJ Khaled and D-Nice have performed during past Super Bowls pre-games, but Tiësto would have been the first to play during the main broadcast.
"I can't wait to party with you all!!" he said in a Jan. 25 retweet of the NFL's announcement.
"It was a tough decision to miss the game, but family always comes first," the DJ said.
Tiësto hails from the Netherlands, which has long been a hub for electronic music. He played an integral role in bringing EDM to a global audience.
He's known for his live performances and work on hit dance tracks like "The Motto," "Wasted" and "Jackie Chan."
X users left supportive comments below Tiësto's post.
"I hope everything works out," one person said. "Wishing you and your family the best," said another.
Tiësto was supposed to perform as player warmed up and provide music during breaks in the game.
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The DJ's announcement came shortly after Usher spoke about his upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance during an interview with Billboard.
"It’s more about anticipation than jitters," the singer said.
This year Usher is celebrating the 30th anniversary of his self-titled studio debut, which came out when he was just a teen.
"I’m so ready for it to happen. I just want to sing louder than I’ve ever sang; dance harder than I’ve ever danced," the musician said. "I want to celebrate the 30 years of this career where I’m very fortunate to have made songs and moments with people that they will remember forever."
Usher also spilled a few details about what fans can expect from the performance.
"It will definitely be an event," he said. "There are special guests. And I’ve considered new songs. But you know, it’s 12 to 15 minutes. So it’s really hard to determine what moment matters more than others, especially with a new song. But there’s the dance, the wardrobe, the lighting, how long you stay in a song, the fact that the audience may sing along."
Tiësto would have been the first DJ to perform during the main Super Bowl broadcast.
Three songs from the singer's upcoming album Coming Home have already been released. Some of the new music was clearly influenced by Michael Jackson. Usher noted that the icon's pioneering 1993 Super Bowl appearance was a big influence on the routine he's currently rehearsing.
"The Super Bowl changed when Michael Jackson performed," he said. "Before then, they just hired a random band or whoever. Michael brought in his own director, obviously paid a lot of money and spent a lot of time designing that incredible moment. He reframed how we look at the Super Bowl live performance."
Usher has also closely studied more recent Super Bowl halftime shows.
"I’ve enjoyed Prince, Coldplay, Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Madonna," he said. "There are tons of things that I was able to pick up on, from looking at how they chose to enter, what they did while they were onstage and how they chose to close."
Super Bowl LVIII airs on Sunday, Feb. 11 on CBS and Paramount+ at 6:30 p.m. ET.
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