Louis Tomlinson Admits New Song About Liam Payne Will Be ‘Challenging’ to Sing Live

Louis Tomlinson has opened up about the potential difficulties of performing his new song about his late One Direction bandmate Liam Payne.

In a recent interview with Zane Lowe on his Apple Music show, Tomlinson spoke about the song “Dark to Light,” which fans have speculated is about Payne. Tomlinson admitted singing the song will be “challenging.”

“But it certainly is one of the songs on the record that, pretty much every time I hear it, there’ll be a moment where I get goosebumps and drift off in my head and have a little think about it,” Tomlinson said of the track. “It’ll probably be a challenging one to do live, but it is still one that I want to do live. It feels it that feels like a very authentic snapshot to my love.”

In “Dark to Light,” Tomlinson express a desire to reach out and help someone, singing: “Is there anything that I can do? / I wish you could see how you look in my eyes, one more time / Would it make a difference? Would it make you smile? / Could it bring you from dark to light?”

Tomlinson also spoke in the interview about the impact grief has had on his songwriting overall.

“Listen, when something like that happens in your life, it’s really difficult to write anything else,” he said. “I remember the first time that I experienced grief. How can you write a love song when you’re feeling the feelings that you’re feeling? It feels so unimportant to everything that’s going around in your head.”

Although Tomlinson would not specify which of his songs, if any, are about Payne, he did note that fans will “find what they need” in his new music.

“But it’s also not something I want to over-explain because it won’t be too hard for people to join the dots,” he said. “Those type of songs, that should be completely open to interpretation because I do think they have power to heal.”

“Dark to Light” is included on Tomlinson’s new album, How Did I Get Here?, and Payne’s family was reportedly notified before it was released.

Payne died in 2024 at age 31 after falling from a hotel balcony.

Photo by Jo Hale/Redferns