celebrity

When Lewis Capaldi's tics stopped him singing at Glastonbury, something incredible happened.

Glastonbury 2023 just wrapped up for another year. One of the world's biggest festivals, this year's five-day event featured performances from icons such as Elton John, Lana Del Rey and Lizzo. 

But the performer whose set has gone viral online is Lewis Capaldi's.

The Scottish singer has been open about his recent diagnosis of Tourette syndrome, also known as Tourette's.

While performing at this week's festival, he was experiencing tics - related to Tourette's - on stage during his final song 'Someone You Love', leaving him unable to sing.

But the crowd knew exactly what to do. Loud enough to hear every word, they began to sing the song for him. 

Watch the powerful Glastonbury moment. Post continues below. 


Video via Mamamia. 

Once the song had finished, he thanked the audience for their support, visibly emotional. 

"I really apologise. You've all come out and my voice is really packing in," he said. "We're gonna play two more songs if that's cool, even if I can't hit all the notes. Glastonbury, I'm really sorry. I'm a bit annoyed with myself."

After the end of the set, he could be heard saying to the crowd: "I freaking dreamed about this, man! If this is the only time I ever get to experience it, I'm telling you, it's more than enough." 

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Glastonbury marks Capaldi's final performance for quite some time.

As Capaldi said on stage: "I feel like I'll be taking another wee break over the next couple of weeks. So you probably won't see much of me for the rest of the year, maybe even. But when I do come back and when I do see you, I hope you're still up for watching us."

The singer later shared a statement on his social media accounts.

"First of all, thank you Glastonbury for having me, for singing along when I needed it and for the amazing messages afterwards. It really does mean the world," he wrote.

"The fact that this probably won't come as a surprise doesn't make it any easier to write, but I'm very sorry to let you know I'm going to be taking a break for the foreseeable future.

"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, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time to come."

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Back at the start of June, he confirmed he had to cancel all of this scheduled performances after Glastonbury, due to issues with his mental health. 

The announcement came while he was promoting his second album, Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent.

"The last few months have been full on both mentally and physically. I need to take a moment to rest and recover," he wrote, adding: "I'm getting all the help and support I need from the incredible people around me who I'm so grateful for. I take none of this for granted and can't wait to be back doing it again."

Lewis Capaldi at Glastonbury, with the crowd singing his song. Image: Getty.

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It was back in September 2022 during an Instagram Live that Capaldi spoke publicly for the first time about his experience with Tourette's. He said he had been diagnosed a few months before telling the world.

In an interview with The Guardian, the singer shared how he felt the need to go public with his diagnosis after his tics were mistaken for a cocaine habit.

"Someone was tweeting: 'He was definitely on drugs, the way he was moving and the way he was talking.' I'm like: I'm already an anxious person," he said. 

"Do you really think I'm going to smash loads of cocaine before I go and stand in front of 12,000 people? This isn't the f**king 70s. I'm not Tommy Lee. I can't handle that. And people on cocaine are usually bodily quite chilled. They just chat sh*t." 

Tourette's syndrome is a condition that involves uncontrollable tics such as repetitive movement, unwanted sounds, and or unwanted vocalisations, that are heightened when individuals feel anxiety and stress. 

The neurological disorder is currently incurable, but can be managed through medication and therapy.

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"It was like, 'Oh! That makes a lot of f***ing sense'," Capaldi said when asked if the diagnosis was a relief on The Jonathan Ross Show. "I thought I had a degenerative disease, so to be told it was in fact Tourette's, was quite the relief."

Capaldi previously explained that his tics come in the form of uncontrollable shoulder and head jerking, eyebrow movements, heightened fidgeting and involuntary deep breaths.

"The movements are more exaggerated now. So, I do my neck cracks a lot; I, kind of, lift my left shoulder up, my face moves a bit and I do these deep breaths," he said when appearing on Capital FM. "I can see micro versions of them in interviews that I've done in the past."

Capaldi's new Netflix documentary Lewis Capaldi: How I'm Feeling Now, was also a massive hit with viewers. 

In the documentary, he spoke candidly about his Tourette's, and his mental health issues.

"When I have a panic attack, it feels like I'm going insane, completely disconnected from reality. It's only making music that does this to me, otherwise I can be fine for months at a time, so it's a weird situation," he told The Times.

"Right now, the trade-off is worth it, but if it gets to a point where I'm doing irreparable damage to myself, I'll quit. I feel great at having made a record that I love."

Feature Image: Getty.

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