Lewis Capaldi reflects on the 'worst day of his life' and returning to the spotlight
18 August 2025, 08:53
Lewis Capaldi has opened up about his mental health, taking time away from the showbiz world and returning to music in an exclusive interview with Heart's Mark Wright and Olly Murs.
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Lewis Capaldi, best known for his hit songs Someone You Loved, Before You Go and Hold Me While You Wait, is back after taking a two year hiatus from the music industry due to mental health issues and Tourette's syndrome.
It was after his Glastonbury 2023 performance, where he experienced tics and the loss of his voice, that Lewis decided to take a step away from the spotlight to focus on his health. Now, Lewis is back, feeling better and releasing music again, including his latest hit Survive, which reflects on the hard times he has been through recently.
To mark his return to music, Lewis sat down with Heart's Mark Wright and Olly Murs to talk about his journey over the past couple of years, reflecting on how he felt during that Glastonbury performance and how he's feeling now he's back writing and recording music again.
Speaking to Mark and Olly about his delight at being able to return to music, Lewis said: "The novelty is definitely back again...You sometimes forget how lucky we are to do it. Because you do it every single day, and it becomes...I’ll say it - monotonous at times. I found myself tuning out and not really being present on stage.
"Now I just feel like I'm soaking every minute in. It’s been amazing. I’m so buzzing to be back. We've only done like three or four little gigs here and there, but we're going on tour in September, and I’m absolutely over the moon. I can’t wait to get back."
Speaking of his time off, Lewis explained that there was a time when he didn't think he would be able to return to the stage and the studio - or if he even wanted to.
"In that first year off, I didn’t know if I would come back," he explained: "I didn’t know if it was possible, or if I wanted to, if it was going to be as difficult as it was before. So I always had an eye on coming back, but it was only at the end of last year when I had three or four songs collected, and 'Survive' came about. That’s when I felt ready enough to dive into the whole thing again—being in the studio, writing music."
Lewis also reflected on his 2023 performance at Glastonbury, describing it as the "worst day of his life".
"When I came off stage [at Glastonbury], I didn’t feel the specialness of it," Lewis said: "I felt like, 'That was an absolute nightmare. This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.' It was genuinely the worst day of my life because I was just miles away from myself. I was panicking, catastrophising, totally out of my body."
He went on: "It wasn’t until I watched the videos back and saw people’s reactions that I understood just how special it was. That will probably be such a defining moment when it’s all said and done in my career. But still, if I could go back and just play a normal gig that day, I would.
"Even though we did Glastonbury, it was really tough. I had to do two years of therapy to work through what happened. But maybe I wouldn’t have done it differently, because then I wouldn’t have had the Glastonbury 'moment' coming back there, which felt really special."
Watch Lewis Capaldi's interview here:
Lewis revealed that, since he spoke out about his mental health, he has found that his relationship with his fans has become deeper.
"I think the reaction’s been a bit deeper this time around," he said: "Now, every time I meet people, they’re talking about their mental health, their struggles, or something they’ve been through in their life—it’s never just, “Oh, can I have a picture?” It feels a bit deeper now."
You can watch the full interview with Lewis Capaldi on Global Player, the official Heart app, now.
