Plus Skye Newman & Aaron Rowe
After two years away from the spotlight, global superstar Lewis Capaldi is well and truly, back. Back in the charts with his huge new single Survive, back in the headlines after his surprise and magnificent return to Glastonbury Festival and, this September, back on tour in arenas across the UK.
On Friday afternoon, a headliner-sized Pyramid Stage crowd embraced the emotion of Lewis’s emergence into the sunshine for a powerful, hit-laden half-hour. “Second time’s a charm on this one,” said Lewis. “I just wanted to come and finish what I couldn’t finish last time.” That he emphatically did, with his soaring vocals leading the crowd through classics Before You Go, Grace, Hold Me While You Wait, Bruises, Forget Me, a first live showing of ‘Survive’, and a unifying performance of Someone You Loved. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
Glastonbury Triumph & New Single ‘Survive’ - Out Now. WATCH ‘SURVIVE’: LIVE AT GLASTONBURY | OFFICIAL VIDEO
"An incredible return" - London Standard ★★★★★
"Lewis Capaldi's Glastonbury return was an emotional, powerful redemption…This was only half an hour – but it will have moved many of us for a very long time." - The I Newspaper
"This might have had the feel of a fairytale ending, but Capaldi, still only 28 years old, seems
like he’s just getting started" - The Independent
"It would require a very hard heart indeed not to be moved yourself." - The Guardian ★★★★
"A songwriter who has worn his struggles on his sleeve finding healing in the love of his fanbase."
- The Times ★★★★
‘Survive’ sees Lewis re-united with close collaborator Romans, who co-wrote his global megahit ‘Someone You Loved’, that extraordinarily turned 10x Platinum earlier this year.
The new track arrives off the back of a run of Scottish warm up shows in May that saw Lewis return to the stage as a guest of mental health charity CALM, in celebration of Mental Health Awareness Week. With no pressure, and no level of expectation, the shows allowed Capaldi the space to gauge his comfort and emotional response before returning to the spotlight - a move which ended up proving nothing short of a triumph.
Lewis’ last release, the hit-stacked record Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent, scored him his second UK number 1 album, creating another three heartbreaking UK number 1 singles, ‘Pointless’, ‘Wish You The Best’ and the Platinum-certified ‘Forget Me’, working with hitmakers including Max Martin (Taylor Swift, The Weeknd), Malay (Lorde, Frank Ocean), and longtime collaborator Phil Plested (James Bay, Bastille).
The album also gained widespread critical acclaim from the likes of The Guardian, New York Times, NME, Rolling Stone, GQ, Stereogum & many more. It also topped airplay charts, smashing an impressive 95,000 units, outselling the rest of that week’s Top 10 combined, as well as outselling first week sales of his own monumental debut album Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent.
April 2023 saw the global Netflix release of Lewis’ compelling, raw and honest feature-length, GRAMMY®-nominated music documentary ‘Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now’ - available to watch on the platform now. The documentary shot straight to the top of the Netflix chart, making it the most watched film on the platform since its release.
Lewis’ subsequent success stems back to 2019’s multimillion selling debut Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent, which propelled Capaldi from bedroom musician to superstar. Few had seen a debut release quite like it, becoming the biggest selling UK album of both 2019 & 2020, spawning two UK number 1 singles, bagging a few BRITs and a GRAMMY® nomination, with one of those number 1’s becoming a smash hit on both sides of the globe in ‘Someone You Loved’, which as well as recently going 10x Platinum, is also the UK’s most streamed song of all time & the world’s fourth highest ever streamed song.
After weathering the kind of storm that few can prepare for, Lewis Capaldi returns with a renewed sense of purpose. ‘Survive’ proves that even in the darkest moments, there’s still strength in showing up. As he marks a new era, Lewis isn’t just surviving, he’s returning even stronger, heart wide open, and ready to step out again.
