Lewis Marc Capaldi was born on 7 October 1996, inGlasgow, the largest city inScotland,[3] and lived there until he was four years old[7] when his family moved toEast Whitburn inWest Lothian.[8]Capaldi is of Scottish, Irish, and Italian ancestry.[9] He is the youngest of four children. His mother becoming pregnant with Lewis came as a surprise to his family, being called a sort of "immaculate conception", because his father had had avasectomy.[10] Capaldi's passion for performing started after he sang on stage at the age of four on a family trip inFrance.[11] He learned how to play guitar when he was nine.[12] Soon, he began writing songs and playing gigs by sneaking intopubs with the help of his eldest brother.[13]
Career
2014–2016: Beginnings
In 2014 Capaldi took part in a three-date tour as part of theHit the Road project run by The Scottish Music Centre. He played inDumfries,Edinburgh, andFort William alongside Jacob, Rory Green, andZoë Bestel.[14] When he was 18, his manager Ryan Walter discovered him by an iPhone recording that was recorded in his bedroom and had uploaded to hisSoundCloud account. The day after first contacting Capaldi, Walter flew from America to Britain to hear Capaldi play live.[15][16] In 2016, Capaldi graduated with anHND in Music fromNew College Lanarkshire,Motherwell.[17]
2017–2018: Extended plays and increased recognition
He released his first single, "Bruises", independently on 31 March 2017. The song quickly amassed almost 28 million plays onSpotify worldwide, making him the fastest-ever unsigned artist to reach 25 million plays on the platform.[18] The song was later re-released as a single in 2019 and reached a peak of No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.[19] After the initial release of the song, he was signed to the German branch ofUniversal Music Group and was assigned to theVertigo Berlin division. His releases are distributed in the UK byVirgin EMI Records and in the US byCapitol Records.[20] His debut single, as well as the songs "Lost on You" and "Fade", were featured on his first extended play,Bloom,[21] and later on his upcoming album. He supported English singer-songwritersRag'n'Bone Man andJake Bugg on their tours in the autumn of 2017.[22]
Capaldi performing in 2019 at the SWR3 New Pop Festiva
TheBreach track "Someone You Loved" became Capaldi's breakthrough single, charting in 29 countries. During his 2019 tour withBastille,[29] the song reached number one on theUK Singles Chart and remained at the position for 7 weeks. It also reached number one on theBillboard Hot 100, making him the first Scottish solo artist to top the US charts sinceSheena Easton in 1981.[30] The song received aGrammy nomination forSong of the Year.[31] According to theIFPI, the song was the 9th biggest global single of 2019.[32] AnotherBreach track "Grace" reached a new peak of No. 9 in the UK that year.[33] Both songs were included on his debut albumDivinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent. Theinstant grat single "Hold Me While You Wait"[34] entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 4.[35] The album was the biggest selling album in the UK in five years, spending five weeks at number one in its first six weeks of release.[36]
Over the summer of 2019, Capaldi performed at many festivals such as theBelsonic festival inBelfast, where he opened forthe Killers,[41] and theGlastonbury Festival.[42] On 5 August, he performed songs from his album with theManchester Camerata for a specialLive Lounge Symphony concert inCroxteth, Liverpool.[43] From 16 to 26 August, he supportedEd Sheeran at the end of hisDivide world tour, playing four gigs with him in Ipswich and Leeds.[44] Towards the end of the year, an extended edition of his debut album was released along with the single "Before You Go", which became his second UK Singles Chart-topper on 31 January 2020.[45][46]
Capaldi became the first artist to sell out an arena tour before the release of an album. The shows sold out in one second upon tickets becoming available, with Capaldi playing to over a quarter of a million people in March 2020.[47] The initiativeLiveLive [/lɪv/ⓘ/laɪv/ⓘ][48] was launched to help fans have a more comfortable experience at his concerts.[49] At the2020 Brit Awards, Capaldi received three nominations, winning two awards.[5] Two songs written by Capaldi were also released that year:Rita Ora's "How to Be Lonely" andSigala's "Lasting Lover".[50]
In March 2021 Capaldi announced that he postponed all his upcoming shows to work on his upcoming sophomore album.[51] He returned in the summer of 2022 to play his postponed shows, including his headlining slots at theTRNSMT Festival,[52] theLatitude Festival,[53] and theIsle of Wight Festival.[54]
The lead single "Forget Me" from his second album,Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent,[55][56] was released in September 2022 and it became his first song to debut at the top of the UK Singles Chart.[57] His frozen pizza range Big Sexy Pizza was also released later that month in the UK supermarketsIceland andTesco.[58]
Capaldi achieved his fourth number-one single when "Pointless" climbed to the top of the UK charts in January 2023.[59] In April 2023, Capaldi achieved his fifth number-one song on the UK Singles Chart with "Wish You the Best".[60] In May 2023, Capaldi was announced to be performing an intimate warm-up set in June beforeReading and Leeds Festival whereJames Marriott would support,[61][62] though Capaldi later cancelled the gig due to his poor mental health.[63]
2023–present: Hiatus, return andSurvive EP
In June 2023, Capaldi announced that he was taking an extended and indefinite break from touring, citing a need to focus on his mental and physical health. Earlier that month, Capaldi's set at the 2023Glastonbury Festival was complicated by vocal issues and an apparent episode of Capaldi's recently diagnosedTourette's syndrome, though concertgoers joined in to help him finish the performance.[64][65] On 1 January 2024, Capaldi gave fans an update on his health, as well as stating that he would be extending his hiatus further, and released an extended edition ofBroken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent as asurprise-release onNew Year's Day.[66] On 11 April 2025, Capaldi officially released his cover of Britney Spears' "Everytime" to download and streaming sites, debuting on the UK Singles Downloads Chart at number 36.[67][68]
In June 2025, he returned toGlastonbury with a surprise set, his first public performance since announcing his extended break.[69] On the same day, he released his comeback single "Survive" which he performed at Glastonbury and peaked at Number 1 in the UK charts following his performance, his sixth number-one in the UK.[70] This would later be revealed as the lead single to his next extended play. In September 2025, he released his second single "Something in the Heavens", which peaked at number three on the UK Charts.[71] In October 2025, he released his third single "Almost", and announced his next extended play, titledSurvive, which was released on 14 November 2025.[72]
After his rise to fame, Capaldi started feeling anxiety and a pressure to perform, and he started showingnervous tics. In September 2022, he revealed that he had been diagnosed withTourette's syndrome.[78] During theCOVID-19 pandemic, he moved back to his parents' house inWhitburn, Scotland, to work on his second album. In April 2023, his documentaryHow I'm Feeling Now was released onNetflix.[79]
Capaldi had been in a relationship with Scottish actressEllie MacDowall from June 2023 to August 2024.[80][81][82]
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Lewis Capaldi discography atDiscogs