Lewis Capaldi presented with an “unusual” statue of himself

22 May, 2023

Lewis Capaldi with his statue, 2023

Lewis Capaldi has been presented with a sculpture of himself, in celebration of him releasing his latest album.

The statue was made by the students at St Kentigern’s Academy in Blackburn, West Lothian – the secondary school that the singer-songwriter used to attend. Made by a handful of students and staff members, the project took six months to complete, and involved all those involved being sworn to secrecy.

Finished in bronze, the unique tribute was presented to Capaldi yesterday (May 21), and the 26-year-old star was seen happily posing with the final product.

According to Bryan Johnston, the principal art teacher at the academy, the statue wasn’t meant to be a precise representation of Capaldi, but instead take more of an “unusual” approach – incorporating gigantic bulging eyes and noticeably thin fingers.

Lewis Capaldi Statue, 2023.
Lewis Capaldi Statue, 2023. CREDIT: Wattie Cheung / Press

“The art department got involved with the concept after speaking to Lewis’ team and we decided to follow James Corden’s concept when he made the statue of David Beckham a few years ago,” Johnston told the Daily Record.

“[We] wanted to link it to Lewis’ new album [‘Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent’] which has now been released.”

He continued: “The art department at the school came up with the concept, and it went from there,” he added. “We sourced a mannequin from a guy in Glasgow, took it back to school and built around it. The biggest challenge we faced was getting the face to look not quite right and a bit unusual and it went from there.”

The David Beckham statue mentioned was a sculpture made by James Corden back in 2019. Developed as part of a prank for The Late Late Show, the footballer was presented with the clearly-inaccurate tribute, while Corden filmed his reaction.

As reported by the Daily Record, the pupils behind Capaldi’s sculpture were offered tickets to the singer’s intimate gig in SWG3 later that evening.

The ‘Forget Me’ singer released his second studio record last Friday (May 19). In a three-star review, NME praised the project for its ability to “flip the script” compared to his previous work.

Following the LP’s arrival, Capaldi explained that he’d be willing to step away from music to protect his mental health if he had to.

“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.

“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.”

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