2023 in review: singer Lewis Capaldi opens up about Tourette’s

At just 26, with one award-winning album to his name, Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi hit the headlines in 2023 as he stepped back from music due to Tourette’s Syndrome. He said the choice to take a break was “the most difficult decision of my life.”

It was during his performance at the 2023 edition of the Glastonbury Festival in the UK that he demonstrated the stark reality of this condition to the world. As he sang his biggest hit, ‘Someone You Loved,’ he began to show a series of tics that stopped him in his tracks.

Far from turning into a crisis, this situation morphed into one of the most moving moments of the massive music festival as the entire audience began singing the song. However, the dramatic event revealed the problem the singer faces every day.

Capaldi’s experience isn’t the first time we’ve seen a singer suffer from a live Tourette’s episode. The same happened to Billie Eilish in June 2022, who’s been living with this neurological disorder since she was 12.

It was still a shock, prompting him to take a step back. After the Glastonbury festival — and having suffered similar episodes previously, which led him to cancel a few shows — he has announced a temporary departure from the stage to cope with his condition.

“I used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this,” he said on social media, “but the truth is, I’m still learning to adjust to the impact of my Tourette’s, and on Saturday, it became obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order.”

This situation, though not commonly seen among celebrities — aside from exceptions like Billie Eilish or actors Zac Efron and Seth Rogen — has thrown the singer into the media spotlight. But who exactly is Lewis Capaldi? Let’s take a look at his brief yet intense career…

Lewis Capaldi was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on October 7, 1996, and from an early age, he was already on a musical path. By the time he was two, he had basic skills like playing the guitar and the piano, and at nine, he began performing in public.

The advent of new technology played a pivotal role in catapulting his career. While street performances can shape a good musician — and he is a perfect example of a street musician — he also showcased his early work on the music streaming platform SoundCloud.

At 17, he was discovered on SoundCloud by the man who would become his manager, Ryan Walter. This led to his first contract as a professional musician with Virgin EMI Records, and he started releasing singles that eventually propelled him to stardom.

The first of these singles was ‘Bruises,’ which managed to reach number 17 on the UK Singles Chart in 2017. It was certified Platinum after selling more than 600,000 units across the UK.

His second single, ‘Lost On You,’ didn’t quite hit the mark, failing to enter the UK Singles Chart. Despite this, it sold more than 200,000 times. In 2018, ‘Tough’ made it to the official charts in Ireland, while another single, ‘Grace,’ reached the tenth spot (ninth in the UK), selling 600,000 units.

Just before he released those singles, in October 2017, he dropped ‘Bloom,’ his first extended play (EP) album — a format that bridges the gap between a single and an album. The signs of success were starting to emerge…

And finally, it arrived! His single ‘Someone You Loved’ was released in 2018 and took the world by storm. It topped the official charts in the UK, Ireland, Canada, and the US, catapulting Lewis Capaldi to the pinnacle of English music and granting him the global fame he’d dreamt of since childhood.

One thing led to another, and in May 2019, Lewis Capaldi’s debut album, ‘Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent,’ saw the light of day. This musical masterpiece included 12 tracks — including all previously known singles — plus three additional tracks in the extended 2020 edition.

‘Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent’ turned out to be a phenomenal success, smashing sales records in the UK and Ireland. It led the charts for weeks and earned multiple Platinum certifications. The album sold 506,000 copies, outperforming the rest of the top 10 and becoming the biggest debut of 2019 on the UK Albums Chart. It went Gold in just one week by surpassing 89,000 units and Platinum within a month by crossing the 300,000 mark.

As is often the case, success tends to go hand in hand with accolades. He was soon up for prestigious awards like the Brits — for which he was nominated in 2019 in the Critics’ Choice category — and the Grammys, where his track ‘Someone You Loved’ was in the running for best song in 2020.

In 2020, Lewis Capaldi made a triumphant return to the Brits, sweeping the night by bagging two awards — Best Song of the Year for ‘Someone You Loved’ and Best New Artist.

Since then, Lewis Capaldi has been performing at concerts worldwide, first with the ‘Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent Tour’ between 2019 and 2020, and then in 2023 with the ‘Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent Tour.’ He has also served as the opening act for other huge British artists like Niall Horan and Sam Smith.

In 2023, four years after his debut, Capaldi released his second studio album, ‘Broken By Desire to be Heavenly Sent’ — the namesake of his recently suspended tour. In this album, he opens up about his struggles with Tourette’s and mental health issues.

“I think on this album in particular I talk a bit more about my mental health, which has taken a beating over the last little while… My mental health issues are a direct symptom of my job,” he shared in a May 2023 interview with Rebecca Jude of Apple Music 1.

“Right now I’m at a point where I can balance my mental health and how I feel in general… the trade-off is worth it,” he said. “I’ll take a few panic attacks and my Tourettes and stuff for what’s happening, but if it gets to the point where things get worse mentally and I stop kind of looking after myself in that regard, I think that would be a point where I’d be like, ‘I’m just not going to do this anymore,’” he continued.

His rising fame, which has been non-stop over these few years, is also evident on his social media platforms, where he shares his professional and personal experiences with more than 7.2 million followers on Instagram, 1.5 million on Twitter, and 8.3 million on TikTok.

Now, with Tourette’s syndrome getting out of hand, he’s had no choice but to pause his ‘Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent Tour’ to rest and learn to cope with it. Surely, he’ll return stronger and with even more hits, while his fans eagerly await the chance to sing along with him once more.

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