Louis Tomlinson opens up on death of former bandmate Liam Payne

Louis Tomlinson opened up on the death of Liam Payne, one year after his former One Direction bandmate's tragic passing.

In an interview with Rolling Stone UK, the English singer shared how tough it was to celebrate their band's 15th anniversary earlier this year, as it was the first one to be celebrated without Liam.

"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," he said.

Unlike the previous anniversary celebration, where he felt a bit "sick of nostalgia," this year struck differently as he felt a deep sense of frustration knowing that Liam is no longer with them.

"You know, 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," Louis said.

"It was really, really, impossibly difficult for me to deal with losing Liam," he added.

According to him, although he's no stranger to grief, he never expected that losing Liam would feel "very different."

"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 said.

Remembering Liam's impact in One Direction, the "Back to You" singer called him the "safest pair of hands" in the group because of his experience before joining the band.

"We were all just so amateur, but he was already where he needed to be by the time he did his first 'X Factor' audition. None of us would have admitted it at the time, because you have a lot of pride as a young lad, but we all looked up to him like that," he said.

Liam died in October 2024 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31.

Following his death, tributes from his former bandmates, Louis, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan, poured in on social media. —Jade Veronique Yap/MGP, GMA Integrated News