Lewis Capaldi calls Glastonbury 2025 set “the best day of my life”, recalls “mental breakdown on stage” in 2023
Lewis Capaldi described his set at Glastonbury 2025 as the “best day” of his life last night (July 14), even joking that it might be better than the birth of his first child in the future.
The singer-songwriter, also discussed his previous Glastonbury appearance, in which he ended his set prematurely after struggling with tics brought on by his Tourette’s on stage, during his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Fallon began by reading out a series of headlines about his set last month, before asking Capaldi, who made a triumphant return to Worthy Farm in an unannounced set on June 27, how it felt. “It was terrifying,” he began. “In the lead-up, I was like, ‘This is the worst thing, I made a terrible decision,’ and then we went out and then we did it, and it was really beautiful and lovely.”
He continued, to applause from the audience: “It went exactly as how I hoped, and it was probably the best day of my life.”
Capaldi then quipped: “Until – I assume – when I have a child, I’ll be like, ‘Well, maybe Glastonbury was still better.”
Touching on his Glastonbury 2023 set, Capaldi said, comparing it to his 2025 appearance: “The first time did not go well. I had what the children would refer to as a bit of a ‘menty b’ – a mental breakdown – on stage … I used to tic quite a lot. I still do tic, but I used to do this thing with my shoulder and it became really uncontrollable and I had a panic attack and all this stuff on stage at Glastonbury.”
He said that he’s experienced the tic on stage a couple of times before, but not somewhere as big as Glastonbury, adding: “It really made me sort of think, ‘Oh, God, I need to actually go and get myself sorted. I can’t really keep doing this to myself.’
Fallon said that he was “so worried” about Capaldi at the time, explaining, “I love you, I’m one of your biggest fans,” before telling him that he came back and “crushed” his 2025 set.
Capaldi also spoke about his work with BetterHelp, a mental health platform that offers online counselling and therapy services, sharing that they’re giving away 734,000 hours of free counselling to people who need it. “Therapy has been a big thing for me, getting back to a place where I can come and perform and do this as a job again,” he explained.
Shortly after his Glastonbury set, he shared news of a UK and Ireland tour coming this September – buy tickets here. He’s set to begin in Sheffield on September 7 and end the tour in Dublin on September 29, while he’ll also be playing in Aberdeen, his birthplace of Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Cardiff. There are two nights at London’s The O2, too, on September 17 and 18.
Earlier this month, he revealed that there is more new music to come this year, following recent single ‘Survive’, and that an album could be on its way in 2026.
For help and advice on mental health:
- CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably
- Help Musicians UK – Around the clock mental health support and advice for musicians (CALL MUSIC MINDS MATTER ON: 0808 802 8008)
- Music Support Org – Help and support for musicians struggling with alcoholism, addiction, or mental health issues (CALL: 0800 030 6789)
- YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
- Time To Change – Let’s end mental health discrimination
- The Samaritans – Confidential support 24 hours a day
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Adam England
NME
