EmotionalBiggest Takeaways From Louis Tomlinson Documentary ‘All of Those Voices’: One Direction Mentions, More

Louis Didn’t Know His Vocals Were Cut in Early 1D Days

“I didn’t know at the start who I was within One Direction,” he explained in the film. “I can remember singing a couple of different verses on the first single — there’s a lot of pressure on this. I remember the first time we listened to it and I wasn’t on it. So then when we got a song that we thought could be our second single, I went in with a producer. All I want is to sing a bit of this next song, and we’re just going to stay here until I get it right.”

That was when he heard Harry Styles’ voice on the verse where he had expected to hear his own.

“There was an element of me feeling that it doesn’t matter what I do, I’m not really in control here and I don’t see where I fit within this band.”

It Took Louis a Few Years to Feel Comfortable In 1D

“The first two and a half years, I just felt like I wasn’t in control of myself and certainly not necessarily had an influence in the band,” he said in the doc.
Eventually, he “felt ownership in what we were doing” after they started working on their third studio album, Midnight Memories, as he was credited as a cowriter for the majority of 1D’s songs. ICYMI, Louis has the most writing credits in the band, which he now says he’s “proud” of.
“By the end of it, I knew exactly who I was in the band. Because I was like, ‘I finally understand what my role is and who I am in this band,” he said.

Louis Was Unprepared to Leave 1D

“Even right up until we went on the break, there was still really no closure on that idea,” Louis revealed. “You didn’t really, or at least I didn’t, understand what it was going to be. I think the feeling I remember the most is a little bit of anger, because I didn’t want to go on a break. It didn’t just upset me, it shocked me. I wasn’t prepared for it. I thought for me, it was the band or nothing.”
“I wanted to stay in the band,” he said, “but that wasn’t an option anymore.”

Why He Was Struggled to Become a Solo Artist

“It was very easy for me to imagine Harry having a solo career, Liam having a solo career. It was harder for me to imagine, like, myself doing that,” he explained in the doc. “Where I left One Direction was I’d come off stage feeling like a god. Now, I’m doing my own performances, and it feels like the opposite.”

On top of that, Louis experienced setback after setback following the deaths of his mother, Johannah Deakin, in 2016 and sister, Félicité Tomlinson, who died ​from an accidental overdose in 2016.

“I felt like, from that moment, for years I couldn’t win. Life was just against me, and it didn’t want me to succeed,” he said. “I kept having all of these difficult things to deal with.”

On His Late Mother, Johannah

Louis said that his “natural bond” with his late mother, Johannah, was “really, really special,” explaining that she was still “kind of a kid” when she gave birth to him. He also added that she was the one who waited for Louis to come around to the idea of a solo career himself.

Louis’ mother died in 2016 after battling Leukemia.

He Felt Being an Older Brother Helped Fatherhood

“I’ve never feared being a dad,” he said. “I kind of played that role anyway as big brother. And then once me mum passed, between me and me grandparents, we kind of sit in this hybrid as parents to my sisters.”

“We did a lot, me and Louis, working together to try and help Fizz,” Louis’ sister Lottie Tomlinson said in the documentary of their sister who passed away. “Obviously, it didn’t work. I felt that, kind of, how could we not get her out of this? I can only imagine how he felt. I’m sure it was heightened, one because he’s a brother and two because he probably felt the responsibility from our mum.”