Robbie Williams has reached out to Lewis Capaldi over mental health in music industry struggles
Robbie Williams has said that he’s reached out to Lewis Capaldi over his mental health struggles.
The singer, who is promoting his new Netflix documentary Robbie Williams which delves into his own mental health, said in a new interview that he’s been in contact with the Scottish artist who detailed on camera his struggles in How I’m Feeling Now.
Speaking to DIY as part of a press event ahead of the release of the docu-series, the former Take That singer reflected on being “told to pull my socks up” when he was feeling low and anxious in the ’90s.
He also revealed that he contacted Capaldi despite not feeling like he was the best person for the job. “I’ve reached out to Lewis and I’m here at any given time,” Williams told DIY.
“There’s been times in my life when pop stars have been going through their own battles and then people will be like, ‘Have you reached out?’ And in my mind I’m going, ‘I’m still fucked! The last person they want to speak to is me! Yeah I’m 20 years down the road… fucking hell,'” he added.
“It’s very difficult for people to understand the psychology of this great gift that has been given to you but yet it’s breaking you. Why? You’ve got money; you’ve got people going, ‘We love you.’ Wat’s the problem with that?” Williams said elsewhere in the interview.
“So up until now when mental health’s talked about in a different way, it’s very [easy] for people to go, ‘All he’s gotta do is get up and sing the fucking song, give him a nudge or we’ll lose all the money.’ So I get it.”
He continued: ‘What should have happened, which I’m not angry about in any way because I lived to tell the tale, was yeah, ‘Get in a car, get in a plane, just go get better and figure out how to enjoy it.’ That’s what should have happened. But it didn’t.”
The solo singer also spoke about the risks of accusing celebrities of “making mental illnesses sexy”. He went on to reveal that at his lowest moment he tried to kill himself.
“I think that if there is a thing called ‘celeb-washing’ when it comes to do with mental illnesses then we better be careful when it comes to who it is and how we say it, because I remember in the ‘90s when I tried to talk about what was going on with me, I was berated and belittled and told to pull my socks up.”
Meanwhile, earlier this year Capaldi confirmed that he would be taking a mental health break following his set at Glastonbury Festival.
The soloist has Tourette’s, which has caused him to have vocal difficulties while performing live and has also impacted his life beyond the stage. Capaldi also has anxiety, a condition that he said in his 2023 documentary only worsened once he found fame off the back of his 2019 debut album ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent’.
In other recent news, Williams revealed that he thinks that releasing his 2006 single ‘Rudebox’ is the “biggest regret” of his career.
FOR HELP AND ADVICE ON MENTAL HEALTH:
- ‘Am I depressed?’ – help and advice on mental health and what to do next
- YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
- MIND – For mental health support, advice and awareness
- CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably for young men
- Time To Change – Let’s end mental health discrimination
- The Samaritans – Confidential support 24 hours a day
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Charlotte Krol
NME
