Lewis Capaldi performs at Glastonbury Festival, in Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset (Aaron Chown/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)A London singer has shared how she bagged a slot performing on Lewis Capaldi’s latest tour after sending him a drunken private message on Instagram.
Singer-songwriter Rachel Chinouriri sent the Scottish Brit Award-winning artist a one-minute video in December, filmed in the back of a taxi while on a night out.
After much embarrassment, she was overjoyed to later find out she had been selected to perform during his European tour, taking place in February.
She has now shared her “embarrassing” story on Twitter, in a thread that has garnered thousands of likes.
In the video Ms Chinouriri sent to Capaldi last month, she says: “Lewis, I will absolutely ******* regret this video in the morning, but I’m drunk out of my mind.
“Word on the street is that on your tour you need someone to open. So I’m not saying, like, force it to be me - I’m literally not saying that.
“I’m just saying, if you have no-one, I can sing songs on stage. I can be really good, I’m really nice, I’m really friendly.
“If you have, like, no-one to open for your gig, I will happily contribute myself...I will happily volunteer as tribute.”
I’m opening for @LewisCapaldi
— rachel chinouriri (@rachelchinourir) January 24, 2023
brb, crying with joy x pic.twitter.com/xgwYLIOOH0
Putting her thumb up, she adds: “Literally, if you have no-one, I swear, I will be really, really good at the job. I believe in myself. So yeah...please don’t ever judge me for this video.”
In her Twitter thread this week, Ms Chinouriri recalled waking up the day after sending the video and how “the gravity of the situation begins to sink in” as she found the message was marked ‘seen’.
“I mute his stories because I’m so MORTIFIED I literally itch in embarrassment every time his story comes up,” she continued. “I say I’m never drinking again.”
By apparent coincidence, her agents later began “fighting tooth and nail” to get her a space on Capaldi’s upcoming ‘Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent’ tour, but deeply mortified by her video she decided not to tell them about it.
“I cannot tell my management… I’m gonna lose my job,” she wrote.
For several weeks she worried she had ruined her chance.
But to her delight, she at last received call from her manager informing her she had been selected.
Ps: I have not a single clue if this video has anything to do with it, but it’s a story to tell and I’ll be asking him when I see him in person 😂😂
— rachel chinouriri (@rachelchinourir) January 24, 2023
“And now I’m going on an arena tour with @LewisCapaldi and I am so happy,” she wrote on Twitter. “Moral of the story: drink less.”
“I have not a single clue if this video has anything to do with it,” she said. “But it’s a story to tell and I’ll be asking him when I see him in person.”
Her tale has been met with delight on Twitter, where many praised her initiative.
Nicholas Jemetta wrote: “Amazing story. Made me laugh and made my day. Congrats Rachel and good choice Lewis”.
Another user named Jade added: “This is my favourite thread so far this year congratulations rachel!! enjoy every minute”.
