Louis Tomlinson pays tribute to Liam Payne on One Direction anniversary

24 July 2026, 12:21

By Sam Prance

Louis Tomlinson also included multiple touching notes to One Direction in his tour show last night.

It's 16 years since One Direction formed and Louis Tomlinson just marked the anniversary in the most touching way.

Directioners will already know that July 23rd is an important date in pop history. It was, of course, the day that Nicole Scherzinger put Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn together in a band on The X Factor. and the boys then went on to take over the world with hits like 'What Makes You Beautiful' and 'Story Of My Life'.

This year, Louis made sure to honour the important day and pay tribute to his late friend and bandmate Liam Payne.

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Taking to X/Twitter on July 23rd ahead of his solo show in Orlando, Florida, Louis reminisced by tweeting: "16 f---ing years of One Direction!!! Blows my mind. Thank you for changing all our lives and the love and passion you all still show is unmatched! Tonight’s going to be a special show."

He then gave Liam a special shout out by writing: "And to my brother I Miss you every day but especially on days like today. I know we’d have been celebrating today together!"

Louis also revealed that he spent the day playing the band's entire back catalogue: "Playing the whole discography top to bottom! Proper trip down memory lane. Some shockers on this first record hahaha."

Taking to Instagram stories, Louis also shared multiple posts of him reacting to old 1D songs. Alongside a screenshot of him playing 'More Than This', he wrote: "Pretty sure this was when Liam first discovered his falsetto. I remember how proud we all were." No. I'm not crying. You are!

Louis also posted screenshots of songs including 'Moments', 'Live While We're Young', 'Rock Me', 'Moments', 'Kiss You', 'Over Again'. Not only that but, alongside 'Infinity', he wrote: "Did we end up releasing the video for this? I'm sure we filmed one and it got scrapped".

If that weren't enough, Louis also honoured his time in One Direction at his Orlando, Florida show by giving a speech about his time in the band. Louis said: "We got put together. Five f---ing strangers, crazy s---. I feel incredibly lucky to have the career that I’ve had. 16 years is f---ing crazy. I’ve got goosebumps saying that now."

Talking to a fan, Louis then added: "Thank you, thank you. I’m proud of us, I’m proud of us. I love you", before surprising fans with a performance of 'No Control'.

Happy 16 years Directioners!

Read more One Direction news here:

• Harry Styles adds emotional nod to One Direction on Together, Together Tour
• Is Louis Tomlinson's 'Dark To Light' about Liam Payne? The emotional lyrics explained
• Niall Horan explains how Liam Payne inspired nostalgic 'End of an Era' lyrics
• Louis Tomlinson explains why he won't sing certain One Direction songs on tour
• Louis Tomlinson reveals his favourite unreleased One Direction song

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