Louis Tomlinson has recalled the moment he found out about Liam Payne’s death as he revealed it was One Direction bandmate Niall Horan who broke the tragic news.
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.
Speaking to Steven Bartlett on The Diary Of A CEO podcast, Louis has now heartbreakingly recounted the moment he learned of Liam’s death and how he had ‘the same feeling’ as when his 18-year-old sister passed away.
Louis’ younger sister Felicite died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 18, in 2019. The family also lost his mother Johannah aged 43, in 2016 after she battled leukaemia.
He said: ‘I was in the car in LA and I just dropped my son Freddie off for school and I was just pulling up back home.
‘I actually found out through Niall, and he told me and yeah, he said something like, “Lads have you seen the news”, and I think I knew what he meant.
Louis Tomlinson (R) has recalled the moment he found out about Liam Payne ‘s death as he revealed it was One Direction bandmate Niall Horan (L) who broke the tragic news; pictured 2013
Liam suffered a fatal fall off a hotel balcony in Argentina in October 2024 and a subsequent toxicology report revealed alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system; pictured 2022
‘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.’
Earlier in the episode, Louis opened up about finding out his sister Félicité had tragically died and how ‘utterly guilty and powerless’ he felt.
He said: ‘I couldn’t believe how deeply unlucky we had been as a family. I felt angry at life on behalf of my family, it did feel incredibly unfair.
‘That is something interesting about grief just how different each thing feels. It hit me a different way, it was sudden and again one of the most challenging days of my life.’
Louis recalled: ‘I was sat in my house in London and everything was fine, I was a bit worried, I had been worried about her for months prior, I was sat in my front room and the doorbell rang at 1am or midnight.
‘I had this feeling over me straight away and I knew it was bad. I opened the gates and I saw the police car and the policeman told me she had passed away.’
Speaking on The Diary Of A CEO podcast, Louis has now heartbreakingly recounted the moment he learned of Liam’s death and how he had ‘the same feeling’ as when his 18-year-old sister passed away
He said: ‘I was in the car in LA and I just dropped my son Freddie off for school and I actually found out through Niall, and he told me and yeah, he said something like, “Lads have you seen the news”, and I think I knew what he meant’; pictured L-R Niall, Liam, Louis in 2015
‘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,’ he added
The Just Hold On singer continued: ‘I was just like, “Ok, alright”.
‘I can’t tell you why it was just me my best friend and my ex girlfriend at the time and it wasn’t a pride thing, I was not only in denial I didn’t even commute with it.
‘I told the people I was with and they started crying and then my brain started catching up with me.’
Holding back tears, he said: ‘To loose my sister how we did, I felt utterly guilty, powerless and like I’d let my mum down.’
Elsewhere in the interview, Louis said Liam’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 and Louis found fame alongside One Direction bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik on the X Factor in 2010.
Louis said: ‘Never say never, right, but I’m just not sure it would be right to him [Liam].
Louis’ younger sister Felicite (pictured) died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 18, in 2019. The family also lost his mother Johannah aged 43, in 2016 after she battled leukaemia
Liam and Louis found fame alongside One Direction bandmates Harry Styles , Niall Horan and Zayne Malik on the X Factor in 2010; pictured 2013
‘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.’
One Direction found superstardom after appearing on the X Factor in 2010 and went on to sell a whopping 70M records worldwide.
They won almost 200 awards, including seven Brit Awards, four MTV Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards, and 28 Kids’ Choice Award.
