Louis Tomlinson shot to fame as a member of One Direction back in 2010 after the group came third on The X Factor – but is now enjoying a solo career.
Since catapulting to stardom, the Doncaster-born singer has gone on to break world records, become a father and even sign as a professional footballer and has now released his new album Faith In The Future.
But who is the lad behind the cheeky South Yorkshire persona?
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As Louis celebrates the release of his new album, Daily Star has explored his career highlights as well as the heartbreak he faced away from the glaring eye of the public.
(Image: Getty Images)
Born to Johannah “Jay” Poulston and Troy Austin, Louis had a relatively quiet life in Doncaster while growing up.
Sadly, just one week after being born, Louis’s parents split.
The youngster later took on the surname of his step-dad, Mark Tomlinson, who fathered his siblings Lottie, 22, and twins Daisy and Phoebe, 16, a well as Félicité, who tragically died aged 18.
Louis also has brother and sister Doris and Ernest, six, from Jay’s second marriage to Daniel Deakin.
It was in 2010 that Louis’ life changed forever after performing his rendition of Hey There Delilah by Plain White Ts in front of Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, and Nicole Scherzinger at the Manchester auditions for The X Factor.
Despite sailing through to the boot camp stage, he thought his career was over when he was dealt a shattering “no”, meaning he wouldn’t progress to judges’ houses.
However, music mastermind Simon Cowell saw potential in Louis and four other lads, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Liam Payne.
The music boss formed a five-piece boyband who went by the name of One Direction, who later went on to achieve worldwide success.
After leaving The X Factor in third place, their debut single What Makes You Beautiful charted at number one across the globe.
The group soon became one of the biggest boybands the world had ever seen, achieving four No1 albums and 70million record sales worldwide.
(Image: Getty Images)
During his boyband days, Louis, a keen footballer, signed to his hometown club of Doncaster Rovers on a non-contract basis.
He made his professional debut for the club on September 18, 2013, against Scunthorpe United.
Despite their success, One Direction later parted ways in 2016 – allowing each member to venture off into a new career.
Louis became the first member of the band to become a dad when he engaged in a brief romance with American stylist, Briana Jungwirth.
(Image: Daily Mirror)
Despite their short relationship, the pair welcomed their son Freddie Reign on January 21, 2016.
Less than a year after the birth of his son, Louis’ world was turned upside down following the sudden death of his best friend and mother.
Johannah died aged 42 on December 7, 2016, after a short battle with leukaemia, having been diagnosed just months before.
Despite grieving the loss of his mum, Louis defied all odds and went ahead with his debut solo performance on The X Factor, just three days after her death.
The track, Just Hold On, saw Louis collaborate with pal Steve Aoki, eventually reaching No2 on the charts.
It is believed that it was Johannah’s wish for Louis to perform on The X Factor and, fighting through the tears, Louis emotionally looked to the sky while blowing a kiss to his mum.
Shortly after his performance, Louis took to social media and penned: “That was harder than I ever imagined. I want to thank everyone around me and all of the amazing fans out there that made that so special!
“Feeling so much love around me and my family, mum would have been so f**king proud (sorry for swearing mum) love you!”
Despite his heartache, following the death of his mum, Louis continued to promote Johannah’s charity work as a patron of Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice.
Just three years later, Louis once again faced heartache following the death of his younger sister Félicité.
The aspiring fashion designer was found dead aged 18 at her London home on March 13, with an inquest ruling that she had suffered an accidental overdose.
(Image: Internet Unknown)
West London Coroner’s Court heard how Félicité had fallen into depression and started misusing drugs following the death of their mum.
Félicité was often seen alongside her older brother, accompanying Louis and his family on tours across the world.
While the heartache experienced by Louis is enough to break anybody – Louis has continued to fulfil the work ethic of his mum and has smashed records as a solo artist.
His debut solo album Walls reached No4 in the UK charts while his solo headline tour, The Louis Tomlinson World Tour sold out almost instantly, with extra dates added due to popular demand.
However, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, Louis was forced to postpone his tour but found a clever way to entertain his fans.
The cheeky chap performed an exclusive gig which was live-streamed across the world, with more than 160,000 tickets being sold.
Profits from the event were shared between FareShare, Crew Nation, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, and Stagehand.
Louis’ virtual gig became the biggest male solo artist live stream of 2020.
Speaking about the event, Louis said: “That was incredible. Thank you to everyone that watched. Can’t wait to finally get back on the road.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
