Disabled popstar Lewis Capaldi shows us how it’s done

Twitter blew up over the weekend after this video went viral, showing pop superstar Lewis Capaldi singing his hit Someone You Loved with the support of a crowd of 100,000 at the Glastonbury music festival. 

Midway through the song, Capaldi, who lives with Tourrette’s, appeared to be experiencing tics to the extent that singing was becoming difficult. The crowd, eager for the opportunity to demonstrate their vocal chops, seized the moment and burst into song, carrying the last two minutes of the arresting ballad. 

It was hard to read exactly how Capaldi was feeling in that moment, although it was striking to observe that after initially trying to shake out the tics and continue the song himself, he seemed to eventually find a space of relief, leaning on his mic stand as the crowd crooned every word. 

The media, of course, took the opportunity to churn out a raft of classic ableist headlines, describing the singer as “struggling to finish his set”, “suffering vocal issues” and noting how the “crowd [needed to] rescue him”. Struggling? Suffering? Rescuing? Get your bingo cards out, folks, it must be a story about someone living with a disability or health condition! 

Because for many of us who do experience those things, or identify as disabled people, living our lives with support is not something we should struggle with. Or suffer from. Or feel the need to be rescued from. In fact, ideas of interdependence and collective support are concepts we should embrace as sources of strength, not weakness. The myth of the individual hero - that our success depends entirely on our ability to soldier on through everything life throws at us with a stiff upper lip and broad shoulders - is a capitalist narrative designed to undermine more collective models of community care, which are the very environments in which disabled people thrive.

The only part of this story to feel devastated about is the way in which Capaldi felt the need to apologise for his accessibility needs, telling the crowd:

While the crowd certainly weren’t demanding an apology, it’s likely that any disabled person watching could relate to the idea of apologising for something that is more reflective of the ableist conditions we’ve created than any intrinsic personal failing. 

Capaldi’s willingness to be vulnerable, and articulate his needs - "I feel like I'll be taking another wee break over the next couple of weeks” - should be applauded. There’s a lesson in here for all of us: opening up about our experiences, and seeking support when it’s needed, doesn’t lead to the show being cancelled, it simply gives the crowd a reason to sing even louder. 

📸 Getty Images