Lewis Capaldi

Did You Know?

• He became the first Scottish solo artist to top the US charts since Sheena Easton in 1981, when 'Someone You Loved' hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Capaldi was the first artist to sell out an arena tour before the release of an album.

Early life

Lewis Marc Capaldi was born on 7 October 1996 in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. He lived there until he was four years old, when his family moved to East Whitburn in West Lothian. He is of Scottish, Irish, and Italian ancestry and has three older siblings. His mother's pregnancy with Lewis came as a surprise to his family, being called a sort of 'Immaculate Conception' because his father had a vasectomy. Lewis' passion for performing started after he sang on stage at four on a family trip in France. He learned how to play guitar when he was nine, and soon began writing songs and playing gigs by sneaking into pubs with the help of his eldest brother.

Career

In 2014, Capaldi took part in a three-date tour as part of the Hit the Road project run by The Scottish Music Centre, playing in Dumfries, Edinburgh, and Fort William. When he was 18, his manager Ryan Walter discovered him through an iPhone recording uploaded to his SoundCloud account; the day after first contacting Capaldi, Walter flew from the U.S. to Britain to hear him play live. In 2016, Capaldi graduated with an HND in Music from New College Lanarkshire, Motherwell.

He released his first single 'Bruises' independently on 31 March 2017, which quickly amassed almost 28 million plays on Spotify worldwide, making him the fastest-ever unsigned artist to reach 25 million plays on the platform. After the initial release, he was signed to the German branch of Universal Music Group and assigned to the Vertigo Berlin division. He supported Rag'n'Bone Man and Jake Bugg on their tours in autumn 2017. In January 2018, he joined Milky Chance on their North American leg of the Blossom tour.

In May, he opened for Sam Smith on their The Thrill of It All European Tour over 19 dates. His debut album Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent was released on 17 May 2019 and remained at the top of the UK Albums Chart for six weeks. His second album Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent (2023) was supported by the lead single 'Forget Me', released in 2022. In June 2023, Capaldi announced he was taking an extended and indefinite break from touring, citing a need to focus on his mental and physical health.

Four days earlier, during his set at Glastonbury Festival 2023, he explained he had recently been diagnosed with Tourette syndrome; when tics complicated his ability to sing during the final song, concertgoers joined in and finished the performance for him.

Personal life

At the 2023 Glastonbury Festival, Capaldi told the crowd he had recently been diagnosed with Tourette syndrome. During the final song of his nine-song set, about 30 seconds in, the tics associated with Tourette's complicated his ability to sing; concertgoers joined in, then lowered their volume each time he picked up the vocals, finishing the performance for him when he was only able to look on. On 1 January 2024, Capaldi gave fans an update on his health.