Theguardian iconTheguardianSep 25, 2026 ~1 min source read

‘Everyone can relate to pain and struggle. So I’m sharing mine’: Michael Kiwanuka on life after his devastating stroke

The Mercury prize winner hasn't been able to go home since falling ill last summer. In his only interview, he opens up about the 'poignancy' of finally releasing the new album his stroke shelved At the end of July 2025, Michael Kiwanuka was back home in Southampton after a series of European gigs.

‘Everyone can relate to pain and struggle. So I’m sharing mine’: Michael Kiwanuka on life after his devastating stroke

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The Mercury prize winner hasn't been able to go home since falling ill last summer.

In his only interview, he opens up about the 'poignancy' of finally releasing the new album his stroke shelved At the end of July 2025, Michael Kiwanuka was back home in Southampton after a series of...

His 2024 album Small Changes had been critically acclaimed and was kept off the UK No 1 slot only by Kendrick Lamar's GNX.

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The Mercury prize winner hasn't been able to go home since falling ill last summer. In his only interview, he opens up about the 'poignancy' of finally releasing the new album his stroke shelved At the end of July 2025, Michael Kiwanuka was back home in Southampton after a series of European gigs. His 2024 album Small Changes had been critically acclaimed and was kept off the UK No 1 slot only by Kendrick Lamar's GNX.

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  • All was going perfectly for the virtuoso singer-songwriter, whose eccentric, genre-busting mix of psychedelic rock, prog soul, blues and gospel had marked him as a real one-off.

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His fifth record, Fudge, was due that autumn.

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