Lewis Capaldi says his Glastonbury 2023 episode was "probably the best thing that's ever happened" to him, and it is the "most important" day of his life
The 28-year-old singer had a rest from performing after he broke down on stage at the festival two years ago, when vocal tics plagued his singing - a symptom of the neurological disorder Tourette's syndrome - but he "dreads to think" what would've happened if he had carried on afterwards
17 July 2025
Lewis has now revealed he suffered an "even worse" experience in Chicago, a few weeks before the Somerset spectacle, when he was "convulsing" backstage and having a "crazy panic attack and mental episode".
Speaking on This Past Weekend podcast with Theo Von, he said: "A few weeks prior to that show we were playing in Chicago and I had a very similar episode - it was probably even worse.
"I couldn't come back and finish a song. I was backstage convulsing and having this crazy panic attack and mental episode. Way worse than what happened at Glastonbury.
"Because Glastonbury is such a big stage, it was the first time people outside my shows had seen it. At Glastonbury, when I came off stage it was weird, I had this (feeling) 'everything's alright now, I can actually go and get help and fix myself for the next two years.'
"In a weird way, it's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. I wouldn't have stopped otherwise.
"Glastonbury 2023 was, for sure, really important - maybe the most important day in my life.
"Someone upstairs was like "this has to happen now otherwise..." I don't want to think of where I would be now if I'd continued.
"We were meant to go to Australia. It could have been really, really horrible. I dread to think what would have happened."
Lewis made a triumphant return to Glastonbury this year to perform a secret set, and he says the comeback was a "mental win".
He said: "I really wanted to come back and do Glastonbury as like a mental win - finish the thing that I couldn't finish before."
Lewis now attends weekly therapy sessions, which have been "really beneficial" for him, and he is now on lifechanging antipsychotic medication.
He added: "It was really scary when they offered it.
"Antipsychotic? I'm like 'I'm not psychotic'.
"It's changed my life. Anxiety levels are so low these days. I don't feel the stress."
© 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity