Did Liam Payne's death bring One Direction back together? Louis Tomlinson opens up on their renewed closeness

Louis Tomlinson said the death of Liam Payne has drawn the remaining members of One Direction closer, although he remains uncertain about how lasting that reconnection will be.

In his Billboard cover story, published on Monday, Jan. 12, the Back to You star shared that the current members of the band — Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Tomlinson himself — grew closer after Liam Payne's tragic passing in October 2024.

At the time, the quartet released joint and individual statements, where they expressed their grief over Payne's loss, and reportedly reunited at the late singer's funeral.

However, for Louis Tomlinson, he admitted to Billboard that he isn't sure how long the renewed connection will last.

"I suppose that we’ll see in time. Naturally, there is a closeness — it definitely feels closer than it was. But I think we’re all so busy, it's hard to keep that consistency."

The Walls crooner continued:

"It also depends person to person. Like, Niall [Horan] — and hopefully he'd say the same about me — we could not exchange a text in a whole year and then go for a beer and literally be chatting nonstop."

Also Read: Which One Direction hit did Louis Tomlinson hate performing? Singer confesses the 1D classic he "never enjoyed"

Louis Tomlinson reveals he "always knew" Harry Styles and Niall Horan would thrive as solo artists

In the same conversation, Louis Tomlinson also spoke about Harry Styles, admitting that he had already known even before that the Satellite hitmaker had always had the star power as a solo act.

"There might be one or two people from a band that prosper, but history says there's not normally more than two. I always knew Harry was going to go on to do what he's done — I'm sure he's superseded his own expectations in the way that he's taken over the world, but we knew he's got everything it takes to be a great artist. And Niall, I had a good feeling about too — he's Irish, he's lovely, everyone loves him."

Now, Louis Tomlinson gears up for the release of his third studio album, How Did I Get Here? on Jan. 23, three years after Faith in the Future.

As he prepares for his comeback, the singer revealed which One Direction song he is still okay to perform as a man in his 30s.

"For starters, I like to pick one that I wrote — but the biggest challenge is finding a lyric that feels all right to sing as a 34-year-old guy. And that's actually not the easiest thing to do, because some of those One Direction lyrics are f***ing raunchy, man, proper!"

The Lemonade hitmaker added:

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"I put off singing 'No Control' forever. There was something kind of beautiful about the fact that everyone was always asking for it, and I never did it. But I did buckle during my Away From Home festival, and actually, I really enjoyed it. I've not sang that song for a long time, and that song was a big moment for me in the band, actually."

Also Read: Is Harry Styles returning to Madison Square Garden? Pop superstar's 2026 residency reportedly confirmed

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