Singing sensation Lewis Capaldi is about to drop his sophmore album and start a world wide tour, But it may mark the end of a career just starting.
Capaldi suffers from Tourette’s. A neurological disorder that causes tiks ranging from jerking motions to shouting obscenities, depending on the intensity.
Lewis spoke with The Time this weekend explaining, “My tic is getting quite bad on stage now,” Capaldi told the outlet. “I’m trying to get on top of that. If I can’t, I’m f—ed. It’s easier when I play guitar, but I hate playing guitar. I know, I’m a walking contradiction.”
The Scottish singer-songwriter first shared his diagnosis last year, after noticing his shoulder would frequently twitch. He noted in a September Instagram Live session that “it happens all the time.”
“The worst thing about it is when I’m excited I get it, when I’m stressed I get it, when I’m happy I get it. It happens all the time,” Capaldi said of the involuntary twitches. “Some days it’s more painful than others and some days it’s less painful. It looks a lot worse than it is. Sometimes it’s quite uncomfortable … but it comes and goes.”
Most heartbreaking is that it’s the thing he loves most that seems to cause it.
“It’s only making music that does this to me,” he explained. “Otherwise I can be fine for months at a time. So it’s a weird situation. Right now, the trade-off is worth it.”
Capaldi added, “But if it gets to a point where I’m doing irreparable damage to myself, I’ll quit. I hate hyperbole but it is a very real possibility that I will have to pack music in.”