Lewis Capaldi has decided he’ll take a break from touring, announcing this week that he’s cancelling all of his upcoming shows to focus on his mental health.
But, as witnessed over the weekend, the Scottish singer can rest assured that his fans have his back.
Capaldi, who announced recently that he’s been diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, cancelled three weeks of shows to “rest and recover” ahead of last weekend’s Glastonbury Festival, where he performed as a headliner.
He made it through the first several songs of this Glastonbury set. However, as his band began to play the hit song, “Someone You Love”, Capaldi’s tics began to interfere with his performance and he couldn’t sing parts of the ballad.
In an incredible show of support, the crowd knew exactly what Capaldi needed in that moment and began to loudly sing along to every word.
(Is someone cutting onions?)
Once the song had finished, he thanked the audience for their support, visibly emotional.
“I really apologize. 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.”
By the end of the set, Capaldi told the crowd he’d probably need to take some more time off from public life.
“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,” he said.
“But when I do come back and when I do see you, I hope you’re still up for watching us.”
Capaldi has often talked about his mental health struggles and how difficult it is to contend with fame.
“When I have a panic attack, it feels like I’m going insane, completely disconnected from reality,” he said in a Netflix documentary about his life.
“I can’t breathe. I can’t feel my breath going in. I get dizzy. I feel like there’s something happening to my head. I’m sweating.
“The big thing for me with it is, I’m always going to feel like this now, this is me.”
In a post to Instagram Tuesday, Capaldi thanked his fans for the support at Glastonbury and announced that he’s taking a break from touring “for the foreseeable future.”
“I used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this and I’d hoped 3 weeks away would sort me out. 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, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time to come,” he wrote.
“I’m so incredibly sorry to everyone who had planned to come to a show before the end of the year but I need to feel well to perform at the standard you all deserve. Playing for you every night is all I’ve ever dreamed of so this has been the most difficult decision of my life.”
Prior to the cancellation, Capaldi had been scheduled to play shows across the world from July through September, with the majority of concert dates sold out.
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