Everything we know about a Lewis Capaldi and Niall Horan collaboration
It's unlikely we'll hear it 😢
Ahh, Lewis Capaldi. He's a man after our own hearts. Not only is he a hugely talented singer and songwriter, but he's also utterly hilarious AND has managed to remain humble despite his massive rise to fame over the last few years.
Not only is Lewis related to Peter Capaldi AKA an actual real-life former Doctor Who, but he's also BFFs with Justin Bieber and One Direction star Niall Horan - who he's been in the studio with AND spotted busking with! Here's everything we know about a Niall/Lewis collaboration so far...
How did Lewis Capaldi and Niall Horan meet?
Apparently, Niall's cousin showed him some of Lewis' tracks online, and Niall was so taken with the Scot's talent that he invited him to open one of the shows on his 2018 'Flicker' tour in Lewis' nearby Glasgow, enabling him to reach a much wider audience.
Niall told Glamour in 2019 about the first time he met Lewis: "First time I ever met him I just thought he was a lunatic, it was St. Patrick's Day, we had a few beers... and we got very drunk, and then both played shows the next day.
"He's very funny to be around, he makes me feel funnier, even though I'm not that funny at all, maybe it's because I'm famous and he's big into famous things these days."
🚨 WARNING! Explicit language... What else would you expect? 🚨
Lewis added: "All joking aside, before any of my music was doing f--- all, he was one of the first to reach out and say he loved my music and that meant a lot to me," with Niall chipping in: "He's the funniest person I know, and I'm so proud of him."
Are they friends?
They certainly are! Lewis and Niall are always backing each other on social media, supporting each other when they release new music and generally being wonderful towards each other - and we LOVE to see it.
On Niall's 29th birthday, Lewis shared a photo of the pair clinking glasses and wrote: 'Happy birthday angel'.
Lewis also spoke about the genuine friendship he has with Niall, saying: "To find someone your age who’s a genuinely sound person who you can actually spend time with, and it doesn’t have to be about making music or let’s do this together, so I’m truly really grateful to have met Niall, especially early on."
Niall added: "There is this unwritten thing where famous people should be friends but they’re very rarely actual friendships, it’s kind of like this thing you do and say hello to people. I don’t really have many famous friends."
What is Lewis Capaldi's favourite Niall Horan song?
In a now deleted tweet, Lewis revealed that he likes Niall's 'Small Talk' and his cover of 'Everywhere' with Anne Marie the best.
He also added that his favourite OneDirection song is 'Olivia'.
Lewis Capaldi and Niall Horan busking together
Despite talk of a collaboration dying down a bit, the pair got us all talking again as they were spotted busking together in August 2022. The besties delighted fans with a surprise busking session in Dublin - and luckily, a lot of the performance was filmed!
The former One Direction star and the ‘Scottish Beyoncé’ joined musician Jacob Koopman, performing Niall’s track ‘Slow Hands’ and Lewis’s hit ‘Before You Go’.
What has Lewis Capaldi said about a collaboration with Niall Horan?
We caught up with superstar Lewis at the Q Awards 2019, where he won the Best Track award for juggernaut single 'Someone You Loved'. Chatting away about his career so far and how he deals with a hangover (not very well, apparently), Lewis also discussed his bromance with One Direction star Niall Horan.
After discussing how they've been pals for a while now, Lewis casually dropped in the news that the pair have ALREADY written a song together!
He told us, "We've written a song together before. So we've written stuff, we've been in the studio and worked together before, but whether it comes out or not - and whether it's actually any good, because it was a while ago - is a different story.
"But I'd love to work with Niall, we're friends and he's been very nice to me for a very long time in terms of... He's been a supporter of my music stuff for a while, so I love him and I'd love to work with him!"
N'aww.
What has Niall said?
Although the pair had already been in the studio together, neither have ever been very complimentary about what they created - however, it turns out that they used a bit of downtime amid the pandemic to work on new music... TOGETHER!
In an Instagram Live, Niall revealed that the pals have been video chatting every weekend, and are planning a virtual songwriting session this week, "We usually have a few drinks on a Saturday night on Zoom but we didn’t chat this weekend. I think I’m writing with him at some point this week. We have a little schedule going."
In February 2023, Niall opened up in an interview with the Daily Star about the songs he and Lewis have recorded. He admitted that neither of them 'adored' the songs, so it was unlikely we'd hear them.
He went on to say: "One of them was actually decent to be fair. But you get one go at a collab and until we both absolutely adore it and spend more time in the studio, there’s not much point in releasing it I don’t think."
Have Lewis Capaldi and Niall Horan made a documentary together?
They have! Called Homecoming: The Road to Mullingar, the documentary follows the singers' trip around Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland, with a visit to Niall's hometown Mullingar.
It's out now, and available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
Watch the trailer for Homecoming: The Road to Mullingar:
Scroll through to see Lewis Capaldi's biggest moments so far:
Career beginnings
Lewis learned to play the drums and guitar when he was just two-years-old, and started off singing in pubs at the age of nine. At 17, he decided to pursue a full-time career in music, and was discovered by his manager through his SoundCloud account.
2017: 'Bloom EP'
Lewis released his first EP 'Bloom' in October 2017, having worked on it with producer Malay and released 'Bruises' in March that year. He was then signed to Universal Music Group, and was long-listed for BBC's Sound of Music 2018, later supporting Rag'n'Bone Man on his European tour in November 2017.
2018: Supporting Niall Horan and festival appearances
After supporting Rag'n'Bone Man, Lewis came to the attention of former One Direction star Niall Horan. The pair became friends and Lewis joined him as a support act for his 'Flicker World Tour' in March 2018, before going on tour as support for Sam Smith two months later.
Lewis took to the stage at various music festivals in the summer of 2018, playing Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Reading & Leeds Festival and TRNSMT. He also supported Kodaline in August 2018.
November 2018: 'Breach' EP
Lewis released his second EP 'Breach' in November 2018, containing songs 'Grace' and 'Someone You Loved', which became Lewis' breakthrough single and was Number 1 in the UK for seven weeks.
2019: Debut album and BRIT Awards
Lewis released his debut album 'Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent' in May 2019, and it became the best-selling UK album in five years. He was nominated for the hugely coveted Critics' Choice Award at the BRITs 2019 (which has now been renamed to the Rising Star Award) but lost out to Sam Fender.
2019: Headline tour
The album was certified Gold two weeks after the album was released. Lewis' tour was announced before the release of his album, and he became the first artist ever to sell out an arena tour before his debut album was released.
Lewis also announced his mental health campaign for gigs, LiveLive. 'LIVELIVE' is a mental health support system, which is designed to help fans who have anxiety. The system offers them advice, time out and a gig buddy system is also available. The singer shared a number of Instagram Stories from his tour explaining what fans can expect from 'LIVELIVE'.
Lewis opened up to Grazia about mental health, discussing his scheme to alleviate anxiety at live music events. He said: "I want this to become a thing that can be at lots of shows. I was getting inundated with messages on Twitter and Instagram with all this stuff like 'I would love to come to your show but you know, I get panic attacks or I'm not very good in crowds'. Some people just don't want to come alone. And I just thought that it seemed like some people could miss the out on coming to shows, just because of their anxiety."
Due to this, the 'Hold Me While You Wait' singer announced LIVELIVE; an initiative ensuring that anxious fans would have appropriate support available at large shows, allowing them to feel more comfortable. The commendable scheme meant that for an extra 50p per ticket, fans would be able to receive on-site counselling, with a team available to meet fans at the door, escort them to their seats, and help those who want to leave the concert quickly later in the evening - avoiding busy crowds.
2019: 'Someone You Loved'
In October 2019, 'Someone You Loved' reached Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, which made him the first Scottish solo artist to top the US chart since 1981. The video for the song was released two months beforehand, and starred actor Peter Capaldi - who is a distant cousin of Lewis'. The singer was also announced as the opening act for Niall Horan's 'Nice to Meet Ya Tour', which was due to start in April 2020. In December 2019, Lewis recruited celebrities all over the world to help make a hilarious video to his song 'Bruises'.
2020: Grammy Awards
He was nominated at the Grammy Awards 2020 for the category of Song of the Year for 'Someone You Loved', unfortunately losing out to Billie Eilish for 'Bad Guy'. When his ex-girlfriend Paige Turley went into the Love Island villa, reports surfaced that his song 'Someone You Loved' was about her - but Lewis revealed it was about his late grandmother.
2020: BRIT Awards
Lewis was nominated for four awards at the BRITs 2020: Male Solo Artist, Best New Artist, Song of the Year for 'Someone You Loved' and Album of the Year for 'Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent'. He went on to win Song of the Year and Best New Artist.
2021: Social media break
In January 2021, Lewis announced he would be taking a break from social media to focus on creating his second album, the follow up to 2019's 'Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent'. Lewis broke his social media silence in March 2021 to reflect on the previous year. He also announced he would be rescheduling his tour to 2022 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
2022: Lewis Capaldi returns to performing live
After a break from live performances for two years, Lewis got back on stage at Parklife in Manchester in June 2022. The following week, he headlined at Isle of Wight festival, which was his first time ever headlining a festival. The Scottish singer also headlined TRNSMT Festival in Glasgow and Latitude festival.
Lewis also brought out his own range of frozen pizzas in 2022! Not many artists have brought out their own range of frozen pizzas, but there's a first time for everything! Lewis announced 'Big Sexy Pizza' in September 2022 with a video showing him in the kitchen perfecting his pizza recipe and explaining that lockdown inspired him to get into pizza making. He has two pizzas in the range, The Big Sexy Meat One and The Big Sexy Cheesy One, which are both available in selected shops across the UK.
2022: Lewis Capaldi releases 'Forget Me'
Following his exciting song teaser, Lewis released his new track on 9th September. It was the first single to come from his second album and the first music he has released in three years. He said of the song: 'This is it… My first new music in nearly 3 years. Couldn't be more nervous! This is... 'Forget Me' 🥀' before taking to his Instagram Stories to thank fans for their support.
On 12th September, he also released a music video for the song which he described as being his: "Favourite video that has ever been made by anybody ever". Fans of Wham! might think the music video looks familiar, as it is a recreation of their 'Club Tropicana' video.
2022: Lewis announces album release date and tour
In the update we were all waiting for, Lewis Capaldi revealed that his second album would be called 'Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent' and would be released on 19th May 2023. He went on to reveal that the album would include a love song with Ed Sheeran called 'Pointless'. That's not all, as he also surprised fans with the announcement of a tour, playing several shows across the UK in January and February 2023.
2022: Lewis films documentary with Niall Horan
Lewis and Niall Horan are good friends and fans have been eagerly hoping for a collab between the two. While they haven't released a song together, they did create a documentary travelling around Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Called Homecoming: The Road to Mullingar, the documentary was released on Amazon Prime Video on Friday 21st October 2022 and follows their road-trip and visit Niall's hometown Mullingar.
2022: Reading and Leeds Festival headline announcement
Lewis took to Twitter in December 2022 to announce the incredible news that he would be taking a headline slot at Reading and Leeds Festival 2023! In classic Lewis style, the expletive-riddled post was equal parts self-deprecating and hilarious, with a smug selfie for good measure as he called it a "dream come true" to be a headliner at the festival.
2022: Lewis Capaldi performed on Hogmanay 2022
Lewis saw in the New Year with a special performance on BBC Scotland's Hogmanay 2022, presented by Edith Bowman.
2023: Lewis Capaldi meets his waxwork
Lewis Capaldi came face-to-face with his waxwork at Madame Tussauds Blackpool. The singer came face-to-face with his waxwork in early 2023, and said: "It is weird to look at myself like this, I wish I'd never had this haircut, but it is forever immortalised in this wax figure. I love it," he said. "For fans, I think it will be great, they can come and touch my bum!"
2023: Lewis' breathtaking BRITs performance
On 1st February Lewis Capaldi was announced as the final performer for the 2023 BRIT Awards. He said of the announcement: "Last time I played The BRIT Awards I was so scared that I had a panic attack before I went on, and then got hammered afterwards. Looking forward to more of the same this year." As The BRIT Awards 2023 with Mastercard took place on 11th February, Lewis took to the stage to perform at the ceremony for the first time since 2020. Performing his hit track 'Forget Me' alongside House Gospel Choir, it's fair to say that his beautiful performance was unforgettable. Lewis was also nominated for Song of The Year at the 2023 BRITs, for his song 'Forget Me', however lost out on the win to Harry Styles and his hit track 'As It Was'.
2023: Lewis Capaldi announced his Netflix documentary
Lewis Capaldi announced his Netflix documentary in March 2023. The programme is called Lewis Capaldi: How I'm Feeling Now and was later released on Netflix on 5th April 2023.
2023: Lewis releases his second album
Lewis released his highly anticipated second album 'Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent' on 19th May 2023. It was the fastest-selling album of 2023, debuting at Number 1 in the UK and has been certified Platinum by the BPI with 300,000 sales in the UK.
2023: Lewis cancels commitments in lead-up to Glastonbury
At the beginning of June 2023, Lewis shared a statement announcing that he would be cancelling his upcoming commitments in order to prepare for his performance at Glastonbury Festival. In the statement, he wrote that he needed time to 'rest and recover' before the performance that was three weeks away. In the difficult message, he also revealed: 'I haven't been home properly since Christmas and at the moment I'm struggling to get to grips with it all.'
2023: Lewis performs at Glastonbury Festival
On Saturday 24th June 2023, Lewis took to the stage at Glastonbury Festival! He performed a selection of his greatest songs, including 'Forget Me', 'Pointless' and 'Before You Go'. Towards the end of Lewis' set, he began to struggle with his Tourette's Syndrome. Due to his tics, the singer struggled to sing his hit track 'Someone You Loved'. In an emotional moment, the adoring crowd began to sing the song at the top of their lungs, helping Lewis finish his set.
2023: He announces a break from touring
On 27th June, three days after his performance at Glastonbury, Lewis shared a statement to announce he would be 'taking a break from touring for the foreseeable future.' In the emotional statement, he thanked the festival, as well as his fans for 'singing along when I needed it and for all the amazing messages afterwards'.
Lewis didn't reveal when he would return to touring, saying: 'The truth is I'm still learning to adjust to the impact of my Tourette's and on Saturday it became obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time to come.'
2023: Lewis wins a National Television Award
In September 2023, Lewis won the National Television Award for Best Authored Documentary for Lewis Capaldi: How I'm Feeling Now. In a video message following his win, Lewis said: "Thank you so, so much if you voted, or even if you just watched the documentary. Thank you so much for voting and thank you for everyone who made it. A massive shoutout to my fellow nominees. You're all incredible. Making a documentary is not easy in the slightest, from what I've learned. It's an honour to be nominated alongside you. I'll see you soon."
2023: Lewis shares an update on his health
Taking to Instagram, Lewis explained that he has been working with professionals to help manage his Tourette's and anxiety, adding that he has noticed a 'marked improvement' in his symptoms since taking a break. He also announced the release of 'Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent' (Extended Edition)', which includes five extra songs.
2025: Lewis makes his first appearance on stage in nearly two years
Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi appeared on stage in Edinburgh at an intimate phone-free gig, where Tom Walker and Nina Nesbitt were performing. This was his first performance since his huge Glastonbury set in 2023. He performed six songs including 'Someone You Loved'.
2025: Lewis released comeback single 'Survive'
In June 2025, Lewis made a huge return to music with a powerful track which delves into his struggles with mental health. 'Survive' dropped on Friday 27th, and Lew shared the track on Insta, alongside the caption: 'It's been a while.'
2025: Lewis performs at Glastonbury
Two years after performing at Glastonbury, Lewis returned to the festival's Pyramid Stage, and performed several songs as a surprise performer. The singer told fans: "Second time's a charm on this one. I just wanted to come and finish what I couldn't finish last time." Contrasting to his 2023, Lewis reflected on his performance in August 2025, telling us that it was: "Maybe the best day of my life."
Although he wasn't announced to perform at BST Hyde Park, in July 2025, Lewis joined Noah Kahan on stage to sing 'Northern Attitude', normally sung with Hozier.
2025: Lewis heads on a UK and Ireland tour
A few days after his surprise appearance at Glastonbury, Lewis announced a tour for September 2025. Starting in Sheffield at the Utilita Arena on Saturday 6th September, Lewis continued on to Aberdeen, Glasgow, London (for three shows), Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Cardiff, ending his tour in Dublin, on Tuesday 30th September. The tour completely sold out within a couple of hours of the tickets going on sale. Just days into his 2025 tour, Lewis announced several summer dates for 2026. The singer will be performing at several festivals across the UK and Ireland.
2025: Lewis released 'Survive' EP
On 14th November, Lewis released his EP 'Survive', which featured four songs, 'Survive', 'Something In The Heavens', 'Almost' and 'The Day That I Die'.
2025: Lewis met his LEGO likeness
Lewis met his very old LEGO Lewis likeness! The singer spent time at the LEGO Chalet of Play where he met the model made out of 41,254 bricks. The LEGO build took 207 to build and can be seen with a green and white Christmas jumper, a grey jacket and brown trousers, while an actual Christmas hat completes the scene.
You can hear Lewis Capaldi and Niall Horan's biggest hits on Hits Radio. 🎶
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