Lewis Capaldi had a hard time getting through his set at Glastonbury today because he was open about having Tourette’s Syndrome.
Even though he had trouble with his voice and often had tics, he stayed on the main stage and told his friends that he would need to take a break soon.
People were moved when 26-year-old Capaldi, who is known for his emotional tunes and honest lyrics, had trouble singing parts of his hit song “Someone You Loved.”
Losing his voice, ticks taking over, he battled through and the crowd lifted him up. What a set #LewisCapaldi absolutely incredible #glastonbury2023 moment pic.twitter.com/BIWv8ZC6F4
— ThatRobRose (@thatrobrose) June 24, 2023
To make things even more heartbreaking, the Scottish singer-songwriter’s fans took over and began singing the song for him. At times, the camera caught Capaldi getting upset as he watched his many fans cheer for him.
People who were watching from home used Twitter to talk about the emotional moment. One person wrote: “Watching Lewis completely broken because he couldn’t act the way he wanted to made me cry. We love you, @LewisCapaldi, and we’ll be here when you’re ready.”
A second person said, “Watching @LewisCapaldi and that Glastonbury crowd made me cry. It was one of my favorite Glastonbury moments of all time.
After performing “Hold Me While You Wait,” Capaldi talked about how frustrated he was with himself. The crowd cheered and supported him, chanting “Oh Lewis Capaldi” around the stage.
The musician recently took a short break, and he told the crowd why. “I took three weeks off because I’ve been going nonstop for the past year, and I wanted to give my mind a little break for my mental health,” he said.
He said that the festival’s amazing vibe was a big part of why he wanted to come back. He thanked his fans by saying, “I wanted to come back and do Glastonbury because it’s so amazing, so I just want to thank you all for coming out. I was afraid, but you really put me at ease, so thank you very much.”
Capaldi told his fans that he felt like he needed another break: “I feel like I’ll be taking another little break in the next couple of weeks, so you might not see much of me for the rest of the year, maybe even. But when I do come back and see you all, I hope you’re still interested in watching.”
The Scottish singer-songwriter released his “second studio album, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent, at the end of last month. In his Netflix documentary, Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now”, he is brave enough to talk about his struggles with anxiety, hypochondria, and his new diagnosis of Tourette’s.
In a powerful documentary about his struggles, the singer said, “This twitch got out of hand, and it was terrible. It was a terrible thing. I started to think about how hard things were getting on me. There’s something at stake, so it’s not just me singing silly songs. Someone else is counting on me.”
In an interview with The Sunday Times earlier this year, he talked about how his Tourette’s syndrome might affect his work. He said, “It’s only making music that makes me do this. If nothing else happens, I can be fine for months at a time. So it’s kind of strange. The trade-off is worth it right now. But if I start hurting myself in a way that can’t be fixed, I’ll stop. I don’t like exaggerations, but it’s very likely that I will bring music in.”
Capaldi’s brave performance at Glastonbury and his honest talk about his own struggles show that behind every famous person is a real person, and that fans can be a great source of support when they need it. Glastonbury did a good job.