Lewis Capaldi performs at the Glastonbury Festival on June 24, 2023. Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock
Lewis Capaldi was excited to headline Glastonbury Festival on Saturday, June 24, before his voice cracked in the middle of “Someone You Loved.”
“I’m going to be honest everybody, but I’m starting to lose my voice up here, but we’re going to keep going and we’re going to go until the end,” the Scottish singer, 26, told the crowd on Saturday, per BBC concert footage, apologizing for the unexpected vocal shift. “I just need you all to sing with me as loud as you can if that’s OK?”
Capaldi, who looked casual in a white shirt during the performance, had started singing the 2019 single as normal. However, moments into the chorus he needed to pause. The packed crowd at the Worthy Farm stage shouted out the lyrics in his place.
“I’m not crying, you are,” one Twitter user wrote early on Sunday, June 25. “Brilliant from the crowd & brilliant too from Lewis. Even though he knows he’s struggling, he still goes on the stage & that takes true courage.”
Another added: “As his Tourette’s overwhelmed him, and he needed a break thousands of voices lifted him up. I feel something akin to a religious experience hearing them sing. The effect on Lewis Capaldi must have been profound. You don’t even have to like the song to get choked up. Beautiful.”
Capaldi — who won a Brit Award for “Someone You Loved” in February 2020 — announced in September 2022 that he had been diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome.
“I’ve always had it apparently,” the “Wish You the Best” crooner explained during an Instagram Live session. “So, I do the shoulder twitch quite a lot and you see underneath every TikTok people are like, ‘Why is he twitching?’ Which is fine. Curiosity is fine. I get it.”
Capaldi added at the time: “It’s a new thing, I haven’t really learned much about it — I’m learning. I’ve got Botox on my shoulder to stop it moving. It worked for a bit, but the worst thing about it is when I’m excited, I get it, when I’m stressed, I get it, when I’m happy, I get it. It happens all the time.”
Capaldi, who has also been candid about his mental health struggles, announced earlier this month that he had canceled his lineup of concerts leading up to Glastonbury.
“I need to take a moment to rest and recover, to be at my best and ready for Glastonbury and all the other incredible shows coming up so that I’m able to continue doing what I love for a long time to come,” he wrote in an Instagram statement on June 5. “I’m getting all the help and support I need from the incredible people around me, who I’m so grateful for.”
Capaldi noted on Saturday that he plans to extend his touring hiatus after the British festival. “So you probably won’t see much of me for the rest of the year, maybe even,” he noted. “But when I do come back and when I do see you, I hope you’re still up for watching us.”
