Liam Payne Gets Nostalgic for One Direction Days While Supporting Louis Tomlinson at His Documentary Premiere
Liam Payne initially wanted to surprise his One Direction bandmate Louis Tomlinson at the London premiere of his documentary All of Those Voices, but he wasn’t sure how he would make it inside without calling him to set it all up first. And even then, Tomlinson didn’t expect him to actually show up. “It means the world,” he said on the red carpet. “I didn’t actually expect him to come, but he told me a couple of days ago he was coming, so really just an honor and a testament to him as a guy, definitely.”
But for Payne, showing up for Tomlinson was a simple act of returning the support he had given him. “All the boys have been there for me,” Payne said on the red carpet. “I’ve suffered a bit of a dark time in my life at the moment. Honestly, I wouldn’t be here without the boys.” It’s been nearly a year since the singer’s controversial interview with Logan Paul where a few One Direction members, specifically Zayn Malik, got caught in the middle of some muddled comments. But over the past few months, the five bandmates seem to have landed in a better place than they’ve been in a while.
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“It’s gonna be a nice trip down memory lane,” Payne added. “Even being here is so nostalgic.” All of Those Voices follows Tomlinson back to the pivotal moment of having to learn who he is and what he’s worth outside of One Direction, with the inclusion of behind-the-scenes footage from throughout their nearly six years together. Watching those moments on the screen from an outside perspective particularly struck Payne, who penned a lengthy tribute to Tomlinson on Instagram early this morning.
“Seeing the world through your eyes last night was the most beautiful thing to experience,” he wrote. “My neck hurts from how much Im looking up to you right now. You were already my friend and brother but getting to look through that window into your world and mind [it] just extends that respect I have for you. What you’ve dealt with and how you held it all inside !! I’m so sorry I was so out of my mind and I didn’t do better for you, I feel ashamed in those moments to not be as good of a friend as you have been to me, at least I have time now and I’m me again so will try and make amends.”
He added: “I’m emotionally drained watching the movie and I only did an hour and a half, you lived it and I’m so proud of how you did it not only with amazing music but with passion and the will to get up off the canvas every time life beat you down and fight back. I’m so thankful to have you in my life mate I feel so lucky and I know you know this but you were part of a small group of people that literally saved my life, you dragged me out of something so dark I’ve never shared it but your approach is something I admire and aspire to so I can one day do the same.”
In the most recent trailer for All of Those Voices, out in theaters internationally on March 22, Tomlinson speaks candidly about finding his sense of purpose in One Direction as a songwriter when he felt as though he didn’t measure up to his bandmates as a vocalist. “When I think about how proud I am of One Direction, I think of us as a collective,” he said. “But if I think about what makes me the most proud as me, as an individual in that band, it’s definitely having the most writing credits.”
Tomlinson assisted in penning some of the band’s most underrated records, including “No Control,” “Better Than Words,” “What a Feeling,” and over 30 more songs. The band’s last official single, the bittersweet farewell note “History,” features both Tomlinson and Payne as co-writers.
“All of the rumors, all of the fights/But we always find a way to make it out alive/Thought we were goin’ strong, thought we were holdin’ on/Aren’t we?” Liam sang on the track’s third verse before the full band joined in on the reminiscing: “You and me got a whole lot of history/We could be the greatest team/That the world has ever seen.”
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