It’s no secret that Lewis Capaldi suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome. In certain situations, his tics become noticeable with uncontrolled convulsions. Now an attack caught him in the middle of a concert in Frankfurt. But he is supported by the audience.
A clip is currently going viral showing the Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi performing in the Festhalle in Frankfurt am Main on Tuesday. Apparently, a spectator filmed the scene that took place during Capaldi’s biggest hit “Someone You Loved”.
While the 25-year-old, who suffers from Tourette’s syndrome, is singing the piano ballad, he is suddenly attacked by tics. At first he just seems to have to cough, but then his head and left shoulder start to twitch uncontrollably.
However, the Frankfurt audience helps Capaldi through the difficult situation. The fans just keep singing the song stoically while the musician takes a short break at the mic.
The singer-songwriter made it public last September that he had Tourette syndrome. Speaking to British newspaper The Sun, he said: “I was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome. I wanted to talk about it because I didn’t want people to think I was doing cocaine or anything.”
His shoulder shrugs when he’s “excited, happy, nervous or stressed,” Capaldi explained. “It’s something I have to live with,” the Scot continued. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
He also spoke about the diagnosis in an Instagram live video at the time. He said he had “Botox injected into his shoulder so it doesn’t move anymore.” In the meantime, he is learning “always new ways of dealing with it”. Some days it is more painful than others. “Sometimes it’s quite uncomfortable.” In a way, he’s even happy about the diagnosis, since he’s had symptoms for a long time: “I thought I had a terrible degenerative disease, so I’d rather take Tourette.”
Tourette’s syndrome is a disease of the nervous system. The tics caused by this can be both motor and vocal in nature. The disease cannot be cured.
