Lewis Capaldi opens up about battling imposter syndrome

He gets nervous before performing

Lewis Capaldi at Hits Live
Author: Hazel ScottPublished 12th Nov 2022
Last updated 12th Nov 2022

We were joined at Hits Live Birmingham by Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi, who was "chuffed" to be headlining the incredible show. Since releasing his debut album 'Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent’ in 2019, Lewis shot to fame and became a huge name in music, but while backstage he also spoke about being nervous when performing and dealing with imposter syndrome.

In a chat with UK Chart Show presenter Sarah Jane Crawford, he said: “I’m quite a self-critical individual. It’s just this weird thing with playing live, it’s the thing I love to do the most, it’s the thing I actually care about the most within music. I get a bit of imposter syndrome, and when you get crowds this big in front of you, you’re a bit like, 'why am I stood up here doing this', you know what I mean?”

Lewis recently made a spectacular return to music and fans are certainly keen for his second album 'Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent’ to come out next year, but he shared that his growing fame hasn't helped his confidence, saying: "It’s like the more successful I have got, the less I am confident in my abilities, it’s a strange feeling. But as long as people are buying it, I will keep doing it.”

Speaking about performing in front of huge crowds, he added: “People always go like ‘it's actually more nerve-wracking doing the smaller shows’, whoever said that is a complete liar. If there's 200 people in front of me or 20,000 people in front of me I'm going to be more nervous when there's 20,000 people for sure. I get terrified now when we get to this point"

Despite his nerves, Lewis Capaldi performed an incredible set at Hits Live Birmingham, closing the show and rounding off an amazing night of music from acts including Blue, Nathan Dawe and Talia Mar, Craig David, Sam Ryder, Dermot Kennedy, Ella Henderson, and Ellie Goulding.

When are the Hits Live 2023 shows?

Hits Live Liverpool will be held at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on 26th May 2023.

You can join us at Hits Live Birmingham at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham on 24th November 2023.

Hits Live Manchester will take place at the AO Arena in Manchester on 25th November 2023.

How can I buy tickets for Hits Live 2023?

Tickets for our Hits Live 2023 shows in Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester are now on sale.

Buy tickets to Hits Live Liverpool 2023 here

Buy tickets to Hits Live Birmingham 2023 here

Buy tickets to Hits Live Manchester 2023 here

Check out the amazing photos from Hits Live Birmingham:

Ellie Goulding


Ellie Goulding


Lewis Capaldi


Lewis Capaldi


Lewis Capaldi


Craig David


Craig David


Ella Henderson


Nathan Dawe


Dermot Kennedy


Blue


Lee Ryan


Antony Costa


Duncan James


Simon Webbe


Talia Mar


Nathan Dawe and Talia Mar


Sam Ryder


Sam Ryder


Cian Ducrot


Blue


Blue


Blue


Blue


Blue


Blue


Ella Henderson


Ella Henderson


Blue


Blue


Blue


Blue


Blue


Blue


Jordan-Lee and Ella Henderson


Talia Mar and Nathan Dawe


Nathan Dawe, Sam Thompson and Talia Mar


Ella Henderson


Ella Henderson


Ella Henderson


Ella Henderson and Cian Ducrot


Ella Henderson


Sam Ryder


Sam Ryder


Dermot Kennedy



Sam Ryder


Sam Ryder


Ellie Goulding


Ellie Goulding


Ellie Goulding


Craig David


Craig David


Craig David


Nathan Dawe


Nathan Dawe


Dermot Kennedy


Dermot Kennedy


Craig David


Craig David


Craig David


Lewis Capaldi


Lewis Capaldi


Sam Thompson


Jordan-Lee and Ellie Goulding


Sam Ryder


Lewis Capaldi


Lewis Capaldi


Ellie Goulding


Ellie Goulding


Ellie Goulding


Ellie Goulding


Ellie Goulding


The 'Someone You Loved' singer also spoke about his new music, and confirmed that he will be bringing out another track soon. Having released the first track from the new album, 'Forget Me', in September, he teased: “Who’s to say we don’t have a song coming out around Christmas time? It’s going to be good, we’ll see what happens I will have another song out before the end of this year.”

You can hear songs by Lewis Capaldi on Hits Radio.

Now read:

Lewis Capaldi: Get to know the man behind 'Someone You Loved'

Everything we know about Lewis Capaldi's second album 👀

Hits Live: Get your tickets for our 2023 shows

How to listen to Hits Radio:

Turn it up with Hits Radio! Home of Fleur East, Sam Thompson and Gemma Atkinson playing the biggest hits and the biggest throwbacks, alongside the biggest laughs and life-changing competitions. Tune in on FM, DAB, online or ask your Smart Speaker to 'Play Hits Radio'.