Louis Tomlinson opens up about writing songs about Liam Payne on his third album

28 January 2026, 11:41 | Updated: 29 January 2026, 16:54

Louis Tomlinson speaking about Liam Payne — Louis Tomlinson has spoken out about writing music about Liam Payne on his album 'How Did I Get Here?'. Picture: Getty / Youtube

By Abbie Reynolds

After speculation about his song 'Dark To Light', Louis Tomlinson has spoken out about writing music about Liam Payne on his album 'How Did I Get Here?'.

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On Friday 23rd January, former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson released his third solo album How Did I Get Here?. The record included the track 'Dark To Light' which fans speculated he had penned about his late friend, and former bandmate, Liam Payne.

Liam tragically passed in in October 2024. At the time, Louis shared a moving tribute, saying: "I am beyond devastated to be writing this but yesterday I lost a brother. Liam was somebody I looked up to everyday."

Now, in a conversation about the album, Louis has opened up about whether he has written music about Liam and his passing. He described Liam as "a puppy dog, man. Just like the sweetest, most lovely guy like that", and revealed that he has written music about him, both directly and subconsciously.

Read more: Louis Tomlinson asks fans for support to "cut through the noise" ahead of new album

Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson were good friends even outside of One Direction. Picture: Getty

Louis was asked by Zane Lowe on Apple Music whether he had written any music about Liam, to which he replied: "When something happens like that in your life it’s really difficult to write anything else.

"I remember this the first time I experienced grief, how can you write a love song when you’re feeling the feelings that you're feeling? It feels so unimportant to everything going in your head."

He said he didn't want to "over explain" any of his music as he wanted to be "open to interpretation". However, he added: "There were definitely moments where I've written about him directly and other moments that are a bit more subconscious.

"It's not something I want to over explain - it won’t be too hard for people to join the dots."

In Louis Tomlinson's song 'Dark To Light' he sings: I wish you could see how you look in my eyes, One more time. Picture: Getty

Talking specifically about 'Dark To Light', which has been speculated to have been written about Liam, he said: "Every time I hear it I get goosebumps, and drift off in my head and think about it."

He added: "It’ll probably be a challenging one to do live but it's one I want to do live."