Lewis Capaldi May Quit Music If His Tourette’s Worsens: ‘It Is a Very Real Possibility’

Lewis Capaldi knows better than most how exhausting life as a touring musician can be. The 26-year-old artist has to face a number of health issues, including struggling with Tourette syndrome when he performs onstage — something he recently revealed might force him to quit music altogether.

“My tic is getting quite bad on stage now,” Capaldi said in an interview with The Times published April 1. “I’m trying to get on top of that. If I can’t, I’m f–ked. It’s easier when I play guitar, but I hate playing guitar. I know, I’m a walking contradiction.”

Capaldi first shared last year that he’d been diagnosed with Tourette’s, which the Mayo Clinic defines as a disorder involving “repetitive movements or unwanted sounds (tics) that can’t be easily controlled.” Earlier this year, he experienced symptoms while performing in concert, and his fans in the audience filled in the lyrics of his No. 1 hit “Someone You Loved” while he took a pause away from the microphone to recover.

“It’s only making music that does this to me,” the Grammy nominee told the publication. “Otherwise I can be fine for months at a time. So it’s a weird situation. Right now, the trade-off is worth it.”

“But if it gets to a point where I’m doing irreparable damage to myself, I’ll quit,” he added. “I hate hyperbole, but it is a very real possibility that I will have to pack music in.”

Capaldi, whose documentary How I’m Feeling Now premieres Wednesday (April 5) on Netflix, previously spoke about his struggles with Tourette’s in a September Instagram Live. “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,” he said at the time. “It happens all the time.”

“Some days it’s more painful than others and some days it’s less painful,” he continued. “It looks a lot worse than it is. Sometimes it’s quite uncomfortable … but it comes and goes.”