Louis Tomlinson on the need to āprotectā himself from the pressures of fame
āRobbie never actually called me out on it, but Iām sure I was who he was talking about.ā
ByĀ Rolling Stone UK 6 October 2025 4:54 PM
AsĀ Louis TomlinsonĀ graces the cover of Rolling Stone UK for the first time, the formerĀ One DirectionĀ starĀ has told us about the pressures of solo fame as he gears up to release his third album.
The singerās third albumĀ How Did I Get Here?Ā lands on January 23 next year, and Tomlinson has toldĀ Rolling Stone UK of his hopeĀ that it will act as āa reflection of how confident I amā and how the new music will āfeel like a journey from the mildly dark sonic placeā of his last album, 2022ās Faith in the Future, to a much sunnier destination.
āItās been a long time since, professionally and personally, Iāve been able to have a little spring in my step. So, hopefully that comes across in the record,ā he toldĀ Rolling Stone UK.
Speaking of the recording process in Costa Rica, he added: āAs Iāve got a bit older, Iām really buying into more hippie-ish ideas. I realised I liked the idea of just bathing in that atmosphere and seeing what happened to the music there. I donāt think songs like āLemonadeā, āSunflowersā and āLazyā would have happened without Costa Rica.ā
Notably, Louis now finally feels more confident as a solo artist. āI would have struggled to say six years ago that Iām an artist: an individual artist in my own rightā¦ But I definitely feelĀ like I can now.ā
Tomlinson also reflected on an Instagram postĀ shared by Robbie Williams in April, in which the singer wrote about being asked for selfies by cabin crew on a recent flight and recalled how one crew member told Williams he was āmuch nicerā than another celebrity on board who had said no to photos.
āThat made me bristle. I know that other celebrity ā and heās a lovely lad,ā Williams wrote. āWho knows what was going on in his world that day?ā
Louis went on to explain his belief that he was the unnamed celebrity and the moment came at a time when he was grieving.
āRobbie never actually called me out on it, but Iām sure I was who he was talking about,ā Tomlinson said, before explaining why incidents like this have made him more wary. āI was right in the middle of my grief. I felt cross with the world, to be honest.
āWhatās tough in that situation, psychologically, is that you know thereās no answer other than āSorry, Iām a cunt.ā Because you know thereās no excuse you can make that can kind of alleviate that blow.ā
Tomlinson offered to sign something for the crew member instead but pointed out that āpeople are less excited about signatures these days because they canāt put them online like a photo.ā
He then explained that situations like this could āend up putting you off leaving the house next time, because you just think, āAll I was doing there was trying to protect myself.āā
Tomlinson added that he always tries to āpush throughā this urge to withdraw because he believes āthe best way of staying mentally healthy is actually letting the world inā.
Touring, he said, has been where he has found himself most comfortable with his fame: āIāve had shows where Iāve been feeling down in the dumps and shit, and then Iāve thought, āHave my fans got some idea that I wasnāt feeling too good?ā Because theyāve completely transformed the way Iām feeling about myself,ā he said. āI can look into the eyes of the girl on the front row and literally feel what the show means to her.ā
And as for new music, RS UK was also lucky enough to hear a number of other tracks on Louisā record. āImposterā is a slinky indie sleaze jam, while the anthemic āPalacesā has shades of The Cure. Tomlinson recorded some of the album in Los Angeles and portions in the English countryside, but says the album really took shape during a relaxed songwriting camp in Santa Teresa, a surfing village on Costa Ricaās Nicoya Peninsula.
Issue 24 of Rolling Stone UK with Louis Tomlinson will drop in print on October 9. The full cover story will arrive online in the week after.
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