Lewis Capaldi Makes Emotional Return to Glastonbury With Surprise Set: ‘I’m F-king Back, Baby’

Lewis Capaldi delivered a powerful performance at Glastonbury on Friday (June 27), with a setlist that included his biggest hits and taste of his forthcoming new era. The Scottish singer-songwriter released his first single of 2025, “Survive,” earlier in the day.

The 35-minute set marked a momentous occasion for the 28-year-old. His last full show took place on the same stage at Glastonbury 2023, during which he struggled with a strained vocal chord and his Tourette’s syndrome, which manifested in physical tics during most songs. 

Throughout his career, Capaldi has been open about his struggles with Tourette’s syndrome, a condition of the nervous system that, according to the National Health Service, causes people to make sudden sounds or have involuntary body movements. In late 2022, he shared his diagnosis in an Instagram post, telling followers that he was “learning new ways to cope all the time.”

By summer the following year, Capaldi had canceled all of his other live commitments in order to focus on Glastonbury, citing mental health struggles as a “direct symptom” of his job, which had spiraled into panic attacks. He addressed these issues on stage before finishing his set early due to his “voice packing in.”

After taking to the Pyramid Stage at 4:55 p.m. BST, Capaldi was met with chants of his name as he launched into “Before You Go” and “Grace” for the biggest crowd of the weekend so far. He was initially billed as a “TBA” on the festival’s schedule, though rumors soon spread through the festival site that Capaldi would be making his return.

He discussed his journey back to the festival. “It’s so good to be back. I’m not gonna say much up here as I might start crying. It’s amazing to be here with you and I can’t thank you enough for coming out and seeing me,” he told the crowd. “Second time’s a charm with this one, eh? It’s just a short set today and to finish what I couldn’t finish the first time.”

During the seven-song set, which included the debut performance of “Survive,” he made clear how important the show was to him. “The last three years haven’t been the best — they’ve been difficult at times,” he said while choking up. “[‘Survive’] is about overcoming stuff, and this has been my f-king goal to get back here,” Capaldi said of the Pyramid Stage set.

He rounded off the set with “Forget Me” and “Someone You Loved,” the latter of which is the U.K.’s most streamed song of all time, and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019. He ended the gig on a high-note, promising that “I’m f–king back, baby” to a rapturous response.

Writing on his Instagram at the end of the performance, Capaldi shared clips from the two shows and noted, “it’s so incredible to be back, thank you so much for having me.”