Louis Tomlinson: Little Hope for One Direction Reunion After Liam Payne’s Death

Louis Tomlinson has said Liam Payne’s death has ‘completely put a pin in’ a potential One Direction reunion. 

The singer, 33, explained how his late friend had been ‘campaigning’ for the Best Song Ever hitmakers to reunite, but now Louis doesn’t believe it ‘would be right’ following Liam’s tragic passing.

Liam suffered a fatal fall off a hotel balcony in Argentina in October 2024 at the age of 31, and a subsequent toxicology report revealed alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system.

Liam and Louis found fame alongside One Direction bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik on the X Factor in 2010.

Speaking to Steven Bartlett on The Diary Of A CEO podcast, Louis said: ‘Never say never, right, but I’m just not sure it would be right to him [Liam].

‘Say for the sake of argument, 25 year’s time, it’s like a f*****g Oasis thing, they offer us an arm and a leg, and they’re like, ‘Come back and do this many shows’.

‘I don’t know. It’s just completely put a pin in all of that.

‘And the irony is, there was no one campaigning for One Direction to get back more than Liam. I would say I came in a close second.

‘There is now only three other people on the planet that will deeply understand my professional journey.’ 

Louis went on to add that he and his fellow bandmates Harry, Niall and Zayn all ‘massively’ looked up to Liam during their time in the hit band. 

He added: ‘When I put up my post about him [Liam], I really wanted him to be remembered the way that he should be remembered.

‘I could just go on and talk all day about how amazing he was, but I think we all looked up to him.

‘I don’t think we would have been brave enough to say at that age when I was in the band, I think I would’ve had too much pride, but we all looked up to him massively.’

Elsewhere Louis heartbreakingly recounted the moment he learned of Liam’s death, sharing that he ‘found out through’ their fellow bandmate Niall while he was ‘in the car, in L.A.’

Louis recalled receiving the call: ‘I had the same feeling that I had with Félicité.

‘And I think anyone has this when they’re around someone who’s struggling—my 150 percent wasn’t nearly enough.’

Looking back, the singer said Liam was ‘definitely struggling at that time in his life.’

‘And that’s when it’s my own arrogance thinking that I could have helped really, because it was so much deeper than what I could have done for him.’

Shortly after Payne’s passing, Louis shared a tribute to his late friend, writing on Instagram that he had ‘lost a brother.’

Louis has also lost his mother Johannah aged 43, in 2016 after she battled leukaemia and his younger sister Felicite died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 18, in 2019.  

It comes after Louis spoke to Rolling Stone UK, and said he still feels ‘frustrated that Liam’s not with us anymore’ as he discussed his shock passing.

He said: ‘It was really, really, impossibly difficult for me to deal with losing Liam. Naively, I thought that because at this point, I’m relatively well versed in grief for my age, that it might soften the blow. 

‘[That was] super-naive. It’s very different. I’ve never lost a friend before.’ 

Louis also explained how the 15th anniversary of the band’s formation earlier this year had proved tough because it was the first one to be celebrated without Liam.

He said: ‘It was really uncomfortable, actually, the 15th anniversary, because the [collective] feeling to celebrate is as important, if not more important than ever, on behalf of Liam.

‘There’s still a level in my head [where it feels] unjust and frustrating that he’s not with us anymore. So, it just brought up those feelings, although I’m still living with them anyway.’