Lewis Capaldi vows to retire from spotlight if new music flops after revealing Tourette’s syndrome battle
Lewis Capaldi is vowing to retire from public life amid his Tourette’s fight if his new music flops.
The singer, 25, whose first record ‘Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent’ sold more than 10 million copies and generated two chart-topping singles, revealed to The Sun on Tuesday (06.09.22) he has then syndrome – and can now see himself retreating from the spotlight in the same fashion as Queen’s bassist John Deacon.
Lewis, whose first song in three years ‘Forget Me’ is being released at midnight on Wednesday (07.09.22) told the publication just ahead of its release: “If it flops you can pursue a career as a comedian? No, I won’t. If it flops I will retire from public life. I’ll be like John Deacon in Queen. No one’s heard of that c*** in ages.
“There’s me, a man who, let’s not beat around the bush, has accumulated a wealth already, and now I’m asking you to give me more of that, please, during a cost-of-living crisis.
“I’m aware of how f****** mental that is. But unfortunately it’s the game we play.”
Lewis has said his new single is written about an ex who moved on, telling fans on an Instagram Live: “The new song is about a relationship I had that ended. About a year later I was looking at my ex’s Instagram and they looked very happy, on the surface at least – you know on Instagram that everyone lies.
“I was just kind of like, ‘You know what, this seems bad. I’m not happy that this person’s happy. I want them to be suffering as much as I am because I am miserable'.
“So I wrote a song about it because I was hateful and spiteful, but I’ve changed now.
“But I got over it very quickly and I’m glad that person is happy and they’ve moved on with their life and I’m still flogging music about it.”
Lewis told The Sun’s Bizarre column he had decided to go public with his Tourette’s diagnosis because he didn’t want people to think he’s been “taking cocaine or something”.
The ‘Someone You Loved’ singer said: “I have been diagnosed with Tourette’s... my shoulder twitches when I am excited, happy, nervous or stressed. It is something I am living with. It is not as bad as it looks.
“It’s a new thing. I haven’t really learnt much about it.
“I got Botox in my shoulder to stop it moving but I’m learning new ways to cope all the time.
“Some days it’s more painful than others, sometimes it’s quite uncomfortable but I guess that’s it... when I look back at my interviews from 2018 I can see that I’m doing it.”
Before the diagnosis, Lewis feared he had a “degenerative disease”, adding: “It comes and goes. Sometimes I can go months without doing it. I thought I had some horrible degenerative disease so I’ll take Tourette’s.”
