{"id":221903,"date":"2025-10-18T09:28:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T09:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/221903\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T09:28:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T09:28:09","slug":"louis-tomlinson-interview-fame-can-be-really-dehumanising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/221903\/","title":{"rendered":"Louis Tomlinson interview: \u2018Fame can be really dehumanising\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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While checking into the hospitality area at Glastonbury Festival this summer, the entertainment journalist Ellise Shafer heard a stranger behind her yelling: \u201cGlastoooo!\u201d Only it wasn\u2019t really a stranger, she later wrote. It was an exuberant Louis Tomlinson<\/a> with a gaggle of friends, hauling a rucksack and primed for a week of live music. <\/p>\n

Tomlinson laughs when I tell him about this. The solo artist and former One Direction<\/a> member has become a regular fixture at Glastonbury \u2013 last year he was heralded as a \u201chero\u201d<\/a> when he brought a TV to the campsite so revellers could watch England play Slovakia in the Euros. \u201cIt\u2019s the kind of place [where] I\u2019m just in a better mood,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople might see me out and about looking a bit grumpy. At Glastonbury? Definitely not.\u201d <\/p>\n

You can understand why he might balk at the idea of going anywhere with large crowds. It\u2019s just over 15 years since One Direction formed on The X Factor and became a global phenomenon, producing four No 1 albums and selling more than 70 million records. Its five members couldn\u2019t go anywhere without being mobbed; their hotels were surrounded; cars blockaded; concerts rammed. Almost 10 years after the band split, the jitters remain. \u201cIt\u2019s not about how many times you get recognised \u2013 it could just be once, or not at all,\u201d explains Tomlinson. \u201cIt\u2019s the potential of being.\u201d <\/p>\n

When One Direction split in 2016, he and his fellow band member Liam Payne<\/a> \u2013 who died last year after falling from a balcony in Buenos Aires \u2013 appeared to be the ones who struggled most. \u201cI felt a bit petulant about it at the time,\u201d Tomlinson told The Independent in 2020.<\/a> \u201cIt actually hit me like a ton of bricks.\u201d Meanwhile, Niall Horan benefited from his Irish cheeky chappy persona, Harry Styles<\/a> was singled out as \u201cthe star\u201d with his rock\u2019n\u2019roll charm, and Zayn Malik<\/a> \u2013 who quit the band in 2015 \u2013 had that brooding, mysterious thing going on (at the same time enduring his own struggles with anxiety).<\/p>\n

This is Tomlinson\u2019s \u2013 indeed any of the former 1D members\u2019 \u2013 first newspaper interview since Payne\u2019s death<\/a>. I\u2019ve been told that he expects questions about Payne; in fact, the only topic I\u2019ve been asked to avoid is Tomlinson\u2019s girlfriend, TV personality Zara McDermott. \u201cI naively thought that, at this point, I\u2019d unfortunately be a little bit more well versed with grief than other people my age,\u201d the 33-year-old Tomlinson says wearily. \u201cI thought that might mean something, but it didn\u2019t at all.\u201d He\u2019s talking about the loss of his mother, Joanna Deakin, who died from leukaemia in 2016, and the death of his 18-year-old sister F\u00e9licit\u00e9 from an accidental overdose just three years later. \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ll never really accept. I don\u2019t think,\u201d Tomlinson says of Payne\u2019s death. His eyes are watering a little.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy, he thinks, in the wake of such devastating news, to \u201cpoint the finger\u201d. After Payne died, fellow celebrities were quick to demand better protection for artists, particularly those thrust into the spotlight at a relatively young age. But in previous interviews, Tomlinson has said he believes the adults working with One Direction did a good job. \u201cI would probably still stand by that statement,\u201d he says. \u201cObviously, that statement was made before\u2026 [and] I can only speak about my own personal experience, [which] was fine.\u201d He sighs. \u201cLook, in any situation similar to this, hindsight is a really powerful thing. I don\u2019t blame anyone for my experience in One Direction. Was it really hard work? Yes. Did we not have enough days off? Yes. But what was really challenging, more than any of those things, was being young and really famous and having people outside the hotels. If you wanted to just go and get a coffee\u2026 even wanting to go for a s*** and having to walk [there] with your security. It\u2019s dehumanising, those kinds of things.\u201d Although at least, in the band, they had each other. \u201cNo matter what, there was this feeling of togetherness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u2018There<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

\u2018There was this feeling of togetherness\u2019: (from left) Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Liam Payne in 2012 (Getty)<\/p>\n

If there is fault to be found, he believes, it lies in the whirlwind of social media comment and online \u201cjournalism\u201d that surrounded everything they did. There was a notorious 2022 interview with Payne on Logan Paul\u2019s podcast, Impaulsive, on YouTube, which today makes for an even more uncomfortable watch than it did at the time. Payne, who appeared to be drinking whisky throughout the conversation, received a huge backlash from fans and the media for what were perceived as \u201carrogant\u201d remarks about his role in the band \u2013 claiming that Simon Cowell formed One Direction around him \u2013 and for comments he made about his ex-bandmates, Malik in particular. Payne later apologised <\/a>(\u201cI was so angry at what was going on around me\u2026 I took it out on everybody else\u201d) and revealed that he\u2019d spent 100 days in rehab after the interview aired.<\/p>\n

\u201cI f***ing forever despise [Logan Paul], horrible, horrible little f***er,\u201d Tomlinson says with quiet venom. \u201cI think that\u2019s also the problem with some of this new \u2018media\u2019\u2026 I would like to think most journalists\u201d \u2013 he corrects himself \u2013 \u201csome journalists have a duty of care.\u201d Quite a lot of the fan upset appeared to be motivated by Payne\u2019s claims that he was the de facto band leader. Yet Tomlinson confirms that this was essentially the case. \u201cIt was, definitely,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was definitely a role that was assigned to him. That is the truth.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\u2018The<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

\u2018The most vital part of the band\u2019: Tomlinson (right) with Payne at the Brit Awards in 2016 (Getty)<\/p>\n

The others looked up to him, he says, including himself (Tomlinson was the eldest of the five), because Payne was already a seasoned performer \u2013 \u201che\u2019d already played at half time [at Molineux, at a Wolverhampton Wanderers game], we\u2019d done s****y school shows\u201d \u2013 having been told by Cowell to come back for a second audition after getting more experience. Tomlinson described Payne in a tribute shared after his death as the most \u201cvital\u201d part of the band, and stands by that today. \u201cIn between him playing that role and also doing a huge chunk of the songwriting\u2026 it\u2019s not even up for debate.\u201d <\/p>\n

What are Tomlinson\u2019s fondest memories of him? He smiles. \u201cSo many. Just real, fun moments. Liam would always entertain me. If I was bored and wanted to have a laugh, he would play that role.\u201d Payne always showed up, too, whether at the London premiere of Tomlinson\u2019s 2023 documentary, All of Those Voices, about his life after One Direction, or as his guest when he was a judge on The X Factor in 2018. \u201cThis is in no way a comment aimed at the other boys \u2013 but I know if it was me, I would have struggled with that idea,\u201d Tomlinson says. \u201cThere [would have been] a feeling of inferiority there, because you\u2019re the guest. 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 testament to the truth of who he was as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any opportunity he got, Liam was always there for me<\/p>\n

Did his death bring the band\u2019s surviving members closer, in any way? \u201cDefinitely,\u201d he says. He gets mildly frustrated with the cycle they end up in, where they will text, saying they need to meet up, then never manage to bring it off. I think this is a plight affecting most thirtysomethings, I reassure him. \u201cYeah, and the best kind of friends are the ones where, when you eventually do meet up, it\u2019s like no time has passed,\u201d he agrees. \u201cIt\u2019s also just amazing to see everyone doing so well in their own right.\u201d He loved Malik\u2019s last record, 2024\u2019s criminally underrated, Americana-influenced Room Under the Stairs: \u201cEveryone got to see a side to him that I\u2019ve always seen.\u201d <\/p>\n

Tomlinson has his own new solo record to celebrate. We\u2019ve met not in a plush hotel suite or swanky restaurant booth, but at The Independent\u2019s headquarters in central London. It\u2019s a small but significant sign of how down to earth he\u2019s managed to stay, for all that fame. He pulls up in a blacked-out people carrier and strides up the steps, offering a polite handshake. Clutching his visitor\u2019s pass, he walks with me and his publicist through the lion\u2019s den (the newsroom) with his shoulders slightly hunched, head down. Once we\u2019re in the soundproofed seclusion of a podcast studio, though, he unfolds himself \u2013 stretching out and reclining against his chair, wearing artfully ripped jeans, white trainers and a smart zip-up jacket.<\/p>\n

\"Proud<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Proud parent: \u2018I\u2019m still the youngest dad on the school run\u2019 (Ed Cooke)<\/p>\n

His new single, \u201cLemonade\u201d, the first to be released from his just-announced third solo album How Did I Get Here?, is a big surprise given the rock and indie-leaning sound of his 2020 solo debut, Walls, or the 2022 follow-up, Faith in the Future. Both it and most of the eight other songs I\u2019m sent from the record show Tomlinson embracing the pop music he seemed eager to shake off after One Direction split, despite his evident skill in crafting a hook or memorable lyric (the band co-wrote many of their biggest hits). With its fizzing funk-riff swagger, \u201cLemonade\u201d is a fantastic thirst-quencher of a track that\u2019s not dissimilar to the euphoric pop-rock Styles excels at. It feels as though Tomlinson has finally found his own sound. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s taken a while. The critical consensus around his first two albums was that he had become lost in a \u201ca sea of influences\u201d, from Oasis and Snow Patrol to Arctic Monkeys. Critics complained that it had become difficult to discern who he was, artistically or otherwise. <\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate you being honest about that,\u201d Tomlinson says when I bring this up. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely something that I\u2019ve been aware of.\u201d When he first emerged blinking from One Direction, his instinct had been to \u201cpush back\u201d and run as far as he could in the opposite direction. \u201cBut actually, the most confident thing I could [have done] was to really embrace those pop sensibilities and bring more people to the party. I\u2019m ready now to accept what I’m great at, which is a cool thing to be able to say out loud, to be honest.\u201d <\/p>\n

I\u2019m ready now to accept what I\u2019m great at, which is a cool thing to be able to say out loud, to be honest<\/p>\n

Tomlinson and I are the same age, but it feels as though he\u2019s lived a few extra lives. During our conversation, I\u2019m moved by how thoroughly decent he seems, and how surprisingly open he is, despite having every reason to clam up or be a bit prickly. Many of his friends are getting married, having kids. He\u2019s a father himself to nine-year-old Freddie \u2013 born from Tomlinson\u2019s brief relationship with Californian stylist Briana Jungwirth \u2013 and spends a lot of time in Los Angeles, where Freddie lives with his mum. \u201cI\u2019m pretty much playing full-time dad when I\u2019m out there,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t do loads of work or even [much] socialising.\u201d Freddie is \u201cgood as gold\u201d, according to Tomlinson, who loves dropping him off at school. \u201cI\u2019m still the youngest dad there,\u201d he says, flashing a smug grin. \u201cIt kills me in the mornings though… I\u2019ve never been great at early starts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite being three albums deep into his own solo project, he\u2019s still afflicted by feelings of imposter syndrome. But he knows he has enough love from his fan base not to worry about them too much. \u201cOn my rainiest day, vocally, performance-wise, my fans are still going to be there for me,\u201d he says. \u201cI just got a cover shoot for Rolling Stone UK, and they told me that I was one of the most requested people to be on [the cover]. I wonder if I would have got that gig if my fans didn\u2019t fight so hard for it. They get me what they think I deserve, which is beautiful. It\u2019s really lovely.\u201d That same humility shows up again when he speaks about the fellow artists and producers he got to collaborate with on this record, who helped bring a new vulnerability to his songwriting. \u201cWhen I entered the music industry, I was in a band where we were working for each other as well as ourselves,\u201d he says. \u201cI think I\u2019ve been chasing that feeling ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018How Did I Get Here?\u2019, the new album by Louis Tomlinson, is out on 23 January 2026. The single \u2018Lemonade\u2019 is out now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-221903","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}