Louis Tomlinson is reflecting on the pain of losing his former One Direction bandmate, Liam Payne, one year after the singer’s death.
In a new interview with The Independent, the 33-year-old opened up about navigating grief since Payne died in October 2024 at age 31.
“I naively thought that, at this point, I’d unfortunately be a little bit more well-versed with grief than other people my age. I thought that might mean something, but it didn’t at all,” Tomlinson said, referencing the earlier losses of his mother, Johannah Deakin, who died of cancer in 2016, and his sister, Félicité, who passed away in 2019 from an accidental overdose.
“It’s something I’ll never really accept, I don’t think,” he added.
Tomlinson fondly remembered Payne as someone who could always make him laugh. “Liam would always entertain me. If I was bored and wanted to have a laugh, he would play that role,” he said.
He also praised Payne’s loyalty and kindness, noting that his late friend always showed up for him—whether it was during Tomlinson’s stint as a judge on The X Factor or at the premiere of his 2023 documentary, All of Those Voices.
“This is in no way a comment aimed at the other boys, but I know if it was me, I would have struggled with that idea. There [would have been] a feeling of inferiority there, because you’re the guest,” Tomlinson admitted.
“But any opportunity Liam got like that, he was always, always there for me. Even if he might have been struggling, he put himself second and still turned up. Those moments are really a testament to the truth of who he was as a person.”
The tragedy has also brought the remaining One Direction members closer together, he said referring to Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik.
“The best kind of friends are the ones where, when you eventually do meet up, it’s like no time has passed,” he shared. “It’s also just amazing to see everyone doing so well in their own right.”
One Direction, formed on The X Factor UK in 2010, went on to become one of the biggest pop acts of the decade before Payne died on Oct. 16, 2024, from a hotel balcony fall in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
An autopsy later determined the cause of death as “polytrauma,” meaning multiple injuries affecting several organs and systems.
