Lewis Capaldi recently announced that he will be taking a break from work commitments following his performance at Glastonbury in order to “adjust to the impact” of living with Tourette’s syndrome. Capaldi wrote, “I used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this and I’d hoped three 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 so much more time getting my mental and physical health in order, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time.”

This announcement followed his decision to take a break to prepare himself for his Glastonbury performance, but has ultimately ended in a longer hiatus than initially planned.

One such commitment that Capaldi will be missing is the headlining slot of Reading and Leeds Festival, where he was set to headline Reading on Saturday 26th August and Leeds on Sunday 27th August. The festival organisers addressed his cancellation, writing, “We’re gutted that Lewis Capaldi won’t be performing at R&L this year, but health comes first and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

The 1975 have now been announced as the replacement headlining act, and are reportedly close friends with Capaldi. At The 1975’s gig at Finsbury Park on 2nd July, Matty Healy addressed Capaldi, saying “I want to send my sincerest thoughts to Lewis Capaldi who is a dear friend of mine, who on the day when he had to cancel his tour, checked in on me. And it’s also a reflection on how hard being a solo artist is as I would not be doing this show if I didn’t have these amazing men and women behind me.”

The 1975 have decided to use their headlining slot to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their self-titled debut album, released in 2013. Frontman Matty Healy announced this decision onstage at TRNSMT festival, telling the crowd, “So, on Saturday at Reading and Sunday at Leeds in celebration of 10 years of our debut album, The 1975 will be playing that album in full in support of our good friend Lewis Capaldi. If you’ve got tickets, good for you. If you haven’t, go and get them. We’ll see you there.”

The band also took to social media to confirm that this will be a 10th anniversary performance of their debut album.

Reading & Leeds Festival
25th – 27th August 2023

‘The 1975’ 10th Anniversary Performance
Tickets on sale now https://t.co/VV4VRerwe4 #The1975 pic.twitter.com/lMyQoeToIW

— The 1975 (@the1975) July 10, 2023

Tickets to Reading and Leeds Festival 2023 are available to purchase here.

Read about Matty Healy leaving his Dirty Hit directorship here.

Read about The 1975’s War Child collaboration here.

Stream The 1975 here.

Capaldi has been candid about his struggles with Tourette’s, opening up about his condition in 2022. On an Instagram Live, he said it’s “not a big deal” but that some days are “more painful than others.”

During an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show, Capaldi joked that people think that he is “on cocaine quite a lot” as a result of his Tourette’s related behaviours. Despite initially not wanting it to be a “big thing” he has now labelled himself “the poster boy for Tourette’s. Which I’ll take, I’ll gladly accept that.”

Prior to his diagnosis, Capaldi shared “I thought I had a degenerative disease so to be told it was, in fact, that I had Tourette’s was, as you can imagine, quite the relief.”

Tourette’s syndrome is a neurodevelopmental condition that causes involuntary sounds and movements called tics. The tics can vary in strength, with Capaldi sharing that his tics predominantly come in the form of head twitches and his “left shoulder going up.”

The trial centred around the Neupulse device was developed by the University of Nottingham with Neurotherapeutics Ltd., with Capaldi trying out a prototype of the device.

The trial included 121 people in the UK, who, on average, experienced a reduction in tic frequency and severity by 25%. The participants wore the device for 15 minutes per day for one month and gave their feedback each week.

The results revealed that those who received active stimulation from the device for one month saw a reduction in the severity of their tics by more than 35%. In total, 59% of the trial participants experienced a reduction in their tics by a minimum of 25%.

Capaldi’s results were reportedly “remarkable“.

Professor Stephen Jackson who led the research said, “Lewis stated that the stimulation made him feel calmer and the device clearly suppressed the head and shoulder tics which can be quite painful for him.”

Following the trial, Prof. Stephen Jackson shared that Capaldi “very generously invited the whole team to his Friday night concert in Nottingham.”

Since his diagnosis, Capaldi has continued to be open about his experience with the syndrome, sharing on stage that it’s “nothing to be worried about.” He joked that when he twitches “it kinda looks like I’m dancing.”

The University of Nottingham have recently secured an additional £1m in funding to commercialise the device.

Tickets to see Lewis Capaldi live are available to purchase here.

26/08/2023 – Reading Festival – Reading

27/08/2023 – Leeds Festival – Leeds

30/08/2023 – 01/09/2023 – Royal Highland Centre – Edinburgh

03/09/2023 – Vital – Belfast

Preorder Capaldi’s new album Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent, set to be released 19th May 2023, here.

Capaldi has confirmed that the apparent episode on stage was in fact his Tourettes surfacing. It is not the first time this has happened to him during a live gig, however. When performing in Belfast he warned the crowd “You might see me twitching a little bit up here. Nothing to be worried about – I have Tourette’s.” 

A touching reaction from his fans has greeted him in these few occasions. Instead of flying insults or a series of judgemental comments about the – very common – condition, the Scottish singer was supported with encouraging messages and admirable observations. As well as the latter, fans who also experience Tourette’s have reached out, giving a proud thanks to him for dealing with the situation so well. Messages such as “For someone who struggles with Tourette [syndrome], this means the world,” on Twitter.     

As someone with Tourette’s, it’s so beautiful to see Lewis Capaldi’s audience finishing his song for him. We need more people to accept us just how we are❤️

— Ell

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