Roman Kemp paid heartfelt tribute to his friend Lewis Capaldi as he accepted the star’s Gamechanger Award at the inaugural Rolling Stone UK Awards on Thursday night.
The Scottish singer was honoured at the event, held at London’s Roundhouse, almost five months after announcing he would be taking a break from music due to the impact of his Tourette’s.
The musician made the decision to step away from the limelight to focus on his health after his Glastonbury performance was derailed by the neurological condition this summer.
Referencing the pivotal moment in Capaldi’s career, Kemp said it was “the hardest thing to watch” in his emotionally-charged speech.
The One Show presenter continued: “You can see how much he tried to get through that all whilst battling with something that he was going through in his personal life.
“That’s Tourette’s. That’s something Lewis lives with every single day and is dealing with part of him, part of who he is.”
Kemp, who is a mental health advocate, said it was “the best thing” for the Before You Go performer to step away from the limelight following his performance at the festival and focus on his health not his career.
He continued: “It was the best thing I ever heard him say, I know that for him that’s a scary thing and I know for a lot of artists in this room have that voice in the back of their head saying this is a lot: ‘I’m losing touch with who I am’”.
The Capital radio presenter added that Capaldi’s decision to put himself first should inspire other artists to do the same, especially if they’re going through something.
“The mental health thing gets thrown around a lot. Sometimes artists are forgotten about in this,” Kemp said.
“We put these people on this stage, put them in front of thousands, in front of stadiums and we expect them to come off stage and be okay because they’re getting paid loads of money so who cares?
“But every now and again someone, like Lewis, will come around and say you know what there’s a point where I do need to step back really regroup, see my friends, see my family, focus on who I am and take proper time out.
“I implore artists to do it and I implore labels to allow artists to do it, to not put that much pressure on them and that is why Lewis Capaldi is a game changer. He is one of those artists that stood up and said that.
“To be able to say you know what I’m not going to walk out in front of thousands of people, I’m not going to walk out to adoring fans and people to sing my name every night.
Concluding: “I’m going to go back and I’m going to look after myself, that my friends, is a real f**king rockstar. That’s Lewis Capaldi.”
Earlier in the evening, Yungblud, who was awarded the Live Act gong at the event, told The Standard that he had been recently in touch with Capaldi and revealed that the singer is in “a good place”.
Speaking on the red carpet, the rocker shared: “I called him last week to see how he’s doing. My mates were out with him the other night. He's good, seems in a good place, positive, taking some time out.
“Me and Lewis, we knew each other before any of us were signed and it’s been like five years now and we’re both a bit, ‘f***king hell, wow, time to take a little second to figure everything out’ y’know.”
