Louis Tomlinson shot to international and unprecedented fame back in 2010, as one firth of One Direction on the X-Factor.
Fast forward ten years and Louis Tomlinson – now 27 years-old has experienced the most incredible professional highs with mind boggling achievements such as winning five Brit awards, embarking on record breaking international tours that outsold even Katy Perry and The Rolling Stones and selling over 50 million records worldwide all as part of one of the planets most successful ever boybands.
But during this time Louis has also experienced many personal lows, all whilst under the microscope of extreme public attention. In late 2016 Louis’ mother died and in March this year Louis also lost his sister. Despite these life changing moments, Louis has used the lows to empower him with him notably writing the powerful, Two of Us and returning to the X-Factor stage the day after his mother’s death to perform his collaboration with Steve Aoki, Just Hold On! Louis’ response to the darkest times of his life are nothing short of inspiring.
In our latest edition of GLAMOUR UNFILTERED, hosted by Josh Smith, Louis Tomlinson talks about how he has leaned into his vulnerability, how hard it was for him to establish his own identity away from One Direction to create his own path as a solo artist and how his relationship with the brotherhood in the band has changed…
With a new album, new songs and a tour on the way, what does Louis 2.0 represent?
I haven’t really thought about it really, but I think musically what I was really happy with on this album is my first single of this, Kill My Mind. I feel like I am a little bit more mature in my songwriting, and I feel like as time goes on, the more songs that I write, I feel like I understand lyrics more and more. I’m just honest I’d say.
What do you think has been the hardest thing for you to be honest about with yourself?
To be honest, I’m lucky with where I grew up. In Doncaster we wear our heart on our sleeves really. So, it comes naturally to me really to just be open about the way that I feel. I think it’s important to do that in songwriting. I just see it as honesty.
There is still so much stigma around men being vulnerable – how have you navigated around the stereotype?
I’m aware of it, but it’s not how I operate personally. I’ve always kind of owned it. I think my mum did a good job of bringing me up and taught me good values. When we wrote Two of Us, that was obviously a very personal song for me, and probably the most vulnerable I’ve been, especially on a song. But it feels good to be honest and talk about these things and encourage other people to talk about these things.
What’s been the most amazing reaction to that honesty for you?
It was with Two of Us, to be honest. It was just, I’ve had a couple of moments where fans have come up to me and told me what that song means to them and maybe they’ve just had a loss in their life. I never really had that in the band to that level, my lyrics really meaning something to people. So, that’s incredible.
What have you learnt about yourself through being a front man?
I feel like I’ve learnt to trust my gut more and just own my decisions, because when there’s a lot of people around you that, there’s always a lot of opinions. So, I feel like I understand myself more as an artist, I understand myself more as a songwriter. I’ve just been trusting my gut more I think as I’ve got older. To be honest, kind of what you see is what you get with me and I’ve always been that way. There’s not really too much complexity to it – I’m lucky like that.
You have been through so many extreme private moments in such a public sphere. How have you coped with that?
It was definitely difficult at first, when I first got put in the band and having to deal with not having as much privacy. But I suppose as time goes on you grow to understand it and get used to it. To be honest, there have been some pretty hard times in my life, and although I wouldn’t have chosen to have them played out in the public, some of the reactions and some of the stuff I got from fans was incredible too. It’s tit for tat really. It’s been difficult, but that’s life anyway, it’s just that on a massive scale. I suppose at the start of the band I struggled a little bit with that, but I think I’m pretty resilient and look, I’m lucky that I had the experience at that level. I’m also quite persistent. It was actually the third year that I’d auditioned for X Factor that I got put in the band and you have to have a certain amount of self-belief for that.
What advice would you want to give the you, who went through those private moments now?
I would just say, “Trust yourself and trust your gut, because those things are important, and nobody understands you better than you.”
How strange was it for you to go from having that immediate support network of the other four members of One Direction almost gone over night?
It was difficult. There are still people around me that were, like my vocal coach for example, that were around, and she plays a big role in my career. So, there is still enough familiar faces to not kind of feel like alienated and on my own, but it definitely took some getting used to. One Direction was such a well-working machine, so it definitely took some getting used to. But I think, as you spend time on your own you find new people that you really got on with and develop those relationships.
How did you build your identity away from the band?
It took me a second to understand that I was on my own now, and my identity for so long was part of a collective, and obviously you still have an individual identity within that, but you’re upholding this collective identity. So, I think it took me a second to kind of understand that I can be a bit of a chav again!
Did you ever feel like were having to put anything on during the band?
You see, I think sometimes people insinuate that it might be the record label and management that make you like this, but it’s not. You’re respectful of the fan base and their age, and we had a young fan base. Also, they’ve got mums who can get angry if you piss them off!
Was there a turning point in discovering who you are as a person?
I think I’m lucky that I can kind of come to those conclusions almost through my music. As I’ve started trusting myself more musically and my musical instincts, there is an overlap with real life there as well.
What’s been the career high and low you have learnt the most from?
The high I’ve learnt the most from would be collectively the One Direction experience and so much that comes with that. It was an incredible experience and taught me so much along the way. In terms of the lows, it’s been quite difficult at times to understand the difference between the experience that I have with the band and the experience that I have now, and how relevant that is to a solo artist. I think that’s taken me a second to work out, there’s some, like the way I started my career as a solo artist and I released a couple of feature songs, which I think are great songs, but looking back I feel like maybe didn’t say too much about me musically and my influences All of these things I’ve kind of had to learn from to get here really.
Looking back over the last ten years is there anything you would change?
In reality I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t because I think every mistake is all part of your journey, and you do definitely learn something every time. So, in terms of my career and how I’ve come across publicly and all of that, no, I wouldn’t change anything to be honest.
What advice would you want to give someone who has gone through the same life experiences as you?
Find the people in your life that you know you love and trust and talk it through with people. Because I might come across as confident but obviously you have moments where you build things up in your head. The longer you live with that thought you think it’s big, it ends up being bigger than the reality of the situation. So, I think just as much communication as possible especially with your family.
How has your relationship with brotherhood changed in your life?
I suppose my career has helped me see the world and meet a lot of different people, and I think that gives you a certain level of understanding. As I’ve got older really, my responsibility has changed with my sisters and my little brother. I’m currently trying to have a conversation with my twin sisters to go to the sixth form! I try to be more mature but as a brother you have to be.
Do you still have issues with the idea of adulting?
Whenever I’m with my son Freddie, and whenever I’m having those kinds of conversations about school with my sister, I feel like then I’ve got my adult head on. I have to, to have credibility in those conversations. But I definitely still act like a lad at times!
I think, honestly, there’s obviously times where you have better relationships with other members than you do others, but that connection, that’ll be forever. Definitely. Because, we experienced so much in a relatively short space of time and it was crazy what we all saw together and experienced, so I think that is something that we’ll have forever, really. Definitely. Sometimes you might not see eye to eye, but that’s the way friendships go in real life!
You can listen to Louis’s tracks ‘Don’t Let It Break You Heart’ and ‘We Made It’ now, taken from his debut album ‘Walls’ out January 31st