Louis Tomlinson has spoken out on Liam Payne’s death, calling it “unjust” and “frustrating,” as he opened up about the heartbreaking loss of his first close friend.
While conversing with The Rolling Stone, the One Direction alum opened up about the 15th anniversary of the band’s formation, and the first Payne’s death.
"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 told the outlet.
While Tomlinson said he once felt "sick of nostalgia," this anniversary without Payne was different.
The Night Changes singer added, "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."
"It was really, really, impossibly difficult for me to deal with losing Liam," he continued.
Tomlinson’s mother died of leukemia in 2016, followed by his sister Félicité’s accidental overdose in 2019.
"Naively, I thought that because at this point, I’m relatively well versed in grief for my age, that it might soften the blow. Super-naive. It’s very different. I’ve never lost a friend before," Tomlinson said of grief.
He praised Payne as the “safest pair of hands” in 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,” he said of Liam's guidance.
He mentioned, “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.”
Payne died at 31 after falling multiple stories from a balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 16, 2024.
