Louis Tomlinson has opened up about Liam Payne's death for the first time.
The singer-songwriter died after falling from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October 2024. He was 31.
In an interview for Rolling Stone UK published on Tuesday, Louis admitted that he struggled to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the formation of their band One Direction earlier this year because Liam wasn't there.
"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 said. "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."
Louis went on to note that he is "relatively well-versed" in grief for someone his age due to the death of his mother, Johannah Deakin, from leukaemia in 2016 and the passing of his sister, Félicité, from an accidental overdose in 2019.
Yet, the Bigger Than Me hitmaker found Liam's tragic passing to be "impossibly difficult" to navigate.
"It was really, really, impossibly difficult for me to deal with losing Liam," the 33-year-old continued. "Naively, I thought that because at this point, I'm relatively well-versed in grief for my age, that it might soften the blow. (That was) super-naïve. It's very different. I've never lost a friend before."
Elsewhere in the conversation, Louis recalled how Liam was "misunderstood" at times and found it hard to express himself the "way he needed".
"If there is ever any judgment on his character, I think nine times out of 10, you can reflect on that, and the reflection is that he was someone who just wanted to be liked," he added.
Louis is set to drop his third studio album, How Did I Get Here?, on 23 January 2026.