Louis Tomlinson Says He Will ‘Never Accept’ Liam Payne’s Death

Louis Tomlinson is opening up about how he’s been coping with the death of his former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne.

In a new interview with The Independent, Tomlinson, 33, spoke candidly about what grief has taught him in the year since Payne died in October 2024 at age 31.

“I naively thought that, at this point, I’d unfortunately be a little bit more well-versed with grief than other people my age. I thought that might mean something, but it didn’t at all,” he told the outlet, referring to the loss of his mother, Joanna Deakin, who died from cancer in 2016, and the death of his 18-year-old sister, Félicité, from an accidental overdose in 2019.

“It’s something I’ll never really accept, I don’t think,” Tomlinson added.

Speaking with the outlet, the “Lemonade” singer reminisced about some of his fondest memories of his late bandmate, joking that the two shared some “real fun moments.”

“Liam would always entertain me. If I was bored and wanted to have a laugh, he would play that role,” he said, noting how Payne also showed up to support him when he appeared as a judge on The X Factor and at the premiere of his 2023 documentary, All of Those Voices.

“This is in no way a comment aimed at the other boys — but I know if it was me, I would have struggled with that idea,” Tomlinson said. “There [would have been] a feeling of inferiority there, because you’re the guest. But any opportunity Liam got like that, he was always, always there for me. Even if he might have been struggling, he put himself second and still turned up. Those moments are really a testament to the truth of who he was as a person.”

Tomlinson also told The Independent that Payne’s death “definitely” brought the rest of One Direction, including bandmates Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan, closer together.

“The best kind of friends are the ones where, when you eventually do meet up, it’s like no time has passed,” he said, sharing that the group sometimes struggles to make their schedules align. “It’s also just amazing to see everyone doing so well in their own right.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Tomlinson shared that while it might be easy to “point the finger” to explain the circumstances that led to Payne’s death, he stands by his past statements about the members of One Direction being well taken care of by the adults around them.

“Look, in any situation similar to this, hindsight is a really powerful thing,” he said. “I don’t blame anyone for my experience in One Direction. Was it really hard work? Yes. Did we not have enough days off? Yes.”

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“But what was really challenging, more than any of those things, was being young and really famous and having people outside the hotels. If you wanted to just go and get a coffee… even wanting to go for a s— and having to walk [there] with your security. It’s dehumanizing, those kinds of things,” Tomlinson continued, noting that the one thing that made it all better was the feeling of togetherness he shared with his former bandmates.

One Direction was formed on The X Factor U.K. in 2010, and went on to become one of the defining pop groups of the decade. Liam co-wrote a number of the band’s hit songs, including “Diana,” “Story of My Life,” “No Control” and more.

The late singer died after falling from his hotel balcony on Oct. 16, 2024, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. An autopsy later revealed that he died of “polytrauma,” meaning multiple injuries that involve multiple organs or systems, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Payne is survived by his 8-year-old son, Bear Grey, whom he welcomed with his ex, Girls Aloud singer Cheryl.

Several other figures close to Payne, including his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and his two sisters, have shared statements to mark the first anniversary of his death.

On Thursday, Oct. 16, Cassidy, 26, shared a black-and-white photo on Instagram of herself snuggling with Payne in bed. “Today marks a full year without you here,” she wrote in the caption. “I will forever hate goodbyes. I miss you Liam.”