Lewis Capaldi: An Exemplar for Young Musicians

Lewis Capaldi’s rise to fame is one surrounded by passion, grit, and perseverance. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Lewis found his love for music at a very young age. Inspired by his older brother, Lewis picked up the guitar at nine years old. He started writing songs at that age and a couple years later started finding ways to play gigs. In an interview he explains, "Obviously I was 11 so I wasn't allowed to be in a pub, so I'd have to go and hide in the bathroom before I played, and I'd always leave immediately after. I did that, kicking around throughout Scotland from then until the age of 19 or 20." Capaldi did anything he could to perform and showcase the astonishing talent that he is.

After uploading a song that he recorded in his bedroom on SoundCloud, Capaldi was discovered by his current manager, Ryan Walter. Soon after he recorded and released his first track, Bruises, in March of 2017. It didn’t take long for the song to blow up, Capaldi became the fastest ever unsigned artist to reach 25 million plays on Spotify with the song. A combination of Capaldis’ tremendous musical talent and pursuit for success allowed him to succeed. By releasing two further songs to boost his popularity and performing non-stop at festivals around the world and making stage appearances supporting Rag’n’Bone Man, Niall Horan, and Sam Smith, Capaldi rose to fame fast. Following his breakout year Capaldi went on to be awarded BBC’s Sound of 2018, The Great Scots Breakthrough Award of 2018, and Forth Rising Stars Award of 2018.?

Capaldi went on to take a three year break from music as he faced problems off-stage. Struggling drastically with mental health problems following his rise to fame, Capaldi recently announced that his Netflix documentary, “How I’m Feeling Now” would be released on April 5th. The documentary follows Lewis as he struggles with being a world-famous singer. In recent months Capaldi has started to release music again with exciting news of his new album, “Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent”, being released this May.?

Capaldi serves as an incredible example for young musicians as well as young stars in the music industry. By working hard in his early years, following his love and passion for music, Capaldi found success and became a breakthrough artist. His desire to perform, create, and believe allowed Lewis to be discovered. After struggling with his prominent rise to fame, Capaldi empowered himself and other musicians with a break from the music scene. Now he returns stronger, and ready to share an important message with his loyal fan base.