Lewis Capaldi's health condition that triggered stage hiatus as singer makes Glastonbury return

Daily Record

3 hours ago

Singer was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome just a few months before announcing he would be stepping away from music to focus on his mental and physical health
Lewis Capaldi made a rousing comeback at Glastonbury with a surprise set on Friday afternoon. The singer even joked that it was the "worst kept secret" as he delighted fans with his afternoon appearance on the Pyramid stage during a time slot mysteriously marked as TBA.
But for Capaldi and his admirers, the performance symbolised more than a surprise. Two years ago, the Glasgow-born artist suffered a severe Tourette's episode live on the same stage.
The moment unfolded midway through his Grammy-nominated hit 'Someone You Loved', when Capaldi was suddenly gripped by an intense tic attack – involuntary twitches affecting his head, shoulders, arms, and legs, which are characteristic of Tourette's syndrome. As he valiantly tried to push forward with the show, his tics wrenching the mic away, Capaldi was visibly shaken and upset.
Footage capturing this raw moment circulated online, touching hearts worldwide as the audience pitched in with the lyrics whenever Capaldi struggled. In the aftermath, the singer took to Instagram to reveal his temporary departure from performing, citing his health and recent diagnosis of Tourette's, which had occurred less than a year before.
Characterised as a neurological condition resulting in uncontrollable sounds or movements, known as tics, Tourette's currently has no cure; nevertheless, treatments are available to help individuals manage their symptoms and tic attacks according to the NHS.
Common vocal tics are behaviours such as whistling, sniffing, emitting animal noises, repeating phrases, and in rarer cases, cursing. Meanwhile, movement tics can compel someone to roll their eyes, blink excessively, shrug, jump or exhibit unpredictable, spasmodic movements.
These tics can be set off by intense emotions like stress or exhilaration. While people often receive a diagnosis before becoming teenagers, Lewis did not learn about his condition until he was 25, which happened in September 2022.
Shortly after the diagnosis, on an appearance of the Jonathan Ross Show, the singer shared that he felt compelled to go public because "people think I am on cocaine (because) I twitch a lot and I'm in showbusiness so I can understand (why) but I have Tourette's."
Lewis remarked: "I said it on an Instagram Live, I didn't expect it to be a big thing but people picked it up and now I am the poster boy for Tourette's which I'll take, I'll gladly accept."
Discussing his initial fears before the diagnosis, Lewis said: "I thought I had a degenerative disease. So to be told I have Tourette's was, as you can imagine, quite the relief."
To coincide with his sensational comeback at Glastonbury, Lewis has debuted a new tune named 'Survive'. Detailing his determination to persist in spite of the challenges brought on by his health.
When performing Friday, the artist touched on the true sentiment behind his lyrics and disclosed how he coped during his hiatus, saying according to The Metro: "The last two years haven't been the best for me, it's been difficult at times.
"I wanted to write a song that was about overcoming that stuff and getting over the other side of it. This has been my goal, to get back here doing this. So, this is the song about that."