Lewis Capaldi has admitted that he could be forced to give up his music career if his mental health worsens. The Scots singer released his second album, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent, on Friday, May 19, and said that "a few panic attacks" alongside his Tourette's diagnosis was worth the trade off to be a chart-topping popstar.
Capaldi, 26, told Rebecca Judd on her Apple Music show that his mental health issues were a “direct symptom” of his job. “I think on this album in particular I talk a bit more about my mental health, which has taken a beating over the last little while,” he said.
He continued: “I’m managing it better now but I think in 2020 I was kind of glad when we got put in lockdown because I had done my first arena tour in the UK, and we had just done an Australia and Asia tour before that, and I was in a bad way where I was just having panic attacks every single day on stage and I was just shy.
“I still haven’t quite got there, but it’s interesting that this thing that you love to do and you’ve always wanted to do becomes something that causes you such distress, but such is the modern world.”
The crooner, from Whitburn, West Lothian, says his global success is currently worth the impact on his mental health - but didn't rule out pulling the plug on his singing if things took a turn for the worse.
He said: “If I did another album and my head was scrambled and I felt horrible, right now I’m at a point where I can balance my mental health and how I feel in general. Not even just mental health, but the trade-off is worth it.
“I’ll take a few panic attacks and my Tourette's and stuff for what’s happening, but if it gets to the point where things get worse mentally and I stop kind of looking after myself in that regard, I think that would be a point where I’d be like, ‘I’m just not going to do this anymore’.”
The star added: “The main reason I got into music was to play live and if I’m struggling to do that ever, I think that’s where I’m in trouble, because otherwise that’s the payoff, that’s the point of doing it. At that point, if it felt like it was becoming something that I was not into or was causing me stress or I hated [it], then that’s when I would probably pack it in.”
Capaldi, who is close friends with fellow musician Ed Sheeran, also shared some advice from his chart-topping pal. The pair co-wrote Capaldi's hit single Pointless, which was released last December, as he shared the Shape Of You singers top hints.
“(His advice) was more about songs and writing the best songs you can and everything else is not really important,” he said. “He was very supportive in terms of if I had questions about having an upbeat song or having a slow song or what single to put out, or blah, blah, blah, blah, he was there as a sort of sounding board. He never really told me what to do, which I kind of appreciated as well, but he was a good suggestion box.”
He also joked: “I think in hand-to-hand combat, I could whip his ass. But in terms of on the charts, he’s definitely top.” Listen to the full interview on The Rebecca Judd Show on Apple Music 1 on Tuesday, May 23.
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