Lewis Capaldi: Glastonbury crowd sing for star after he loses voice on stage
Glastonbury festivalgoers helped a struggling Lewis Capaldi through the end of his set by singing for him – after he lost his voice on stage.
The Scottish singer, who had previously cancelled three weeks of shows to rest and recover, apologised as he prepared to belt out his hit song Someone You Loved on the festival’s Pyramid Stage on Saturday night.
The 26-year-old star admitted he was having voice issues in the run-up to the ballad, telling the crowd: “I’m going to be honest everybody, but I’m starting to lose my voice up here, but we’re going to keep going and we’re going to go until the end.
“I just need you all to sing with me as loud as you can if that’s OK?”
He continued to apologise to the crowd, and the Eavis family behind the Worthy Farm festival, for his voice starting to go, only for fans to reply with chants of “Oh, Lewis Capaldi”.
The star, who recently opened up about his battles with anxiety and Tourette’s syndrome, then attempted to launch into Someone You Loved – a powerful vocal-heavy piano ballad – to end his set.
But as he struggled to hit the notes, the Glastonbury crowd roused once again and helped him over the line by singing back to him as he watched on, clearly emotional.
At the end of the show, Capaldi revealed he planned to take some more time off and told fans: “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.”
It comes after the singer-songwriter announced that he was taking time to rest and recover in the lead-up to Glastonbury.
He said in a post on social media that the last few months had been “full on, both mentally and physically”.
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In the post, he apologised, telling his 1.4 million followers: “I haven’t been home since Christmas and at the moment I’m struggling to get to grips with it all.”
The singer recently admitted on an Apple Music show that his mental health issues were a “direct symptom” of his work.
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He said “a few panic attacks” and his recent Tourette’s diagnosis was worth the trade-off for a pop star’s life, but admitted he could give up music if his mental health worsened.
Capaldi’s emotional Pyramid Stage set was followed by a glittering performance from US star Lizzo and a headline showstopper from American rock band Guns N’ Roses.
Meanwhile, Lana Del Rey was cut short during her headline performance on the Other Stage.
The US singer was 30-minutes late to the stage, telling fans: “My hair takes so long to do… super sorry I’m so late.”
But her mic was cut at exactly midnight – due to the festival’s strict curfew – with the singer unable to perform some of her biggest hits, including Summertime Sadness.
Fans sang another of the 38-year-old’s hits, Video Games, back to her and she joined in a cappella, before leaving the stage to talk to festivalgoers.
Glastonbury will wrap up on Sunday night with a much-anticipated headline performance from Elton John – billed as the legendary singer’s last-ever UK show.
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