Louis Tomlinson Reveals One Direction Song He Hated Performing

Louis Tomlinson is opening up about his One Direction days, and he’s not sugarcoating his feelings. While promoting his upcoming solo album How Did I Get Here?, the former boy band member reflected on the group’s music catalogue and revealed which song he hated singing throughout his time in the band.

In an interview with Capital FM, the singer responded to various fan questions before diving into the song he openly “hated” performing. While reflecting on the early One Direction years, Tomlinson didn’t shy away from revealing that his most dreaded song is the one that skyrocketed the band to global stardom. Read his comment below:

Maybe some people wouldn’t answer this, but I’m not sure there was a single time I performed One Direction’s ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ and enjoyed it. That always felt like a bit of a challenge.

Released in 2011, What Makes You Beautiful was One Direction’s debut single after placing third on The X Factor in 2010. The song quickly became a worldwide sensation, catapulting the group from reality TV contestants to full-fledged pop stars overnight. One Direction’s infectious and upbeat energy defined the early 2010s pop landscape and set up Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, and Harry Styles for a record-breaking career that included four sold-out world tours, five hit albums, and a level of global fandom rarely seen in modern pop music.

While Tomlinson shared that some songs were hard for him to perform, he also revealed the one unreleased song he wishes he could share with the fans. Check it out below:

I think we wrote it for the last One Direction record album or the one before…I think it got leaked, actually — it was a song called ‘Where We Are.’ I always really, really loved that song. I was fighting for that song to make the record. It never did.

Although One Direction went on what they called an “indefinite hiatus” in 2016, the band’s legacy remains one of the strongest in modern pop, with each member carving out their own path in the decade since. Harry Styles has become one of the industry’s biggest solo acts and a rising film star, starring in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk in 2017 and winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2023 with Harry’s House.

Niall Horan has built a successful singer-songwriter career, releasing three solo albums, topping charts, and headlining global tours. Zayn Malik, who left the band in 2015, continued to explore R&B-driven and genre-blending solo projects, most recently releasing Room Under the Stairs and going on his first solo tour, “Stairway to the Sky Tour.”

Liam Payne pursued pop and R&B-inspired music, branching out with high-profile singles like Strip That Down and collaborations with artists like Quavo, J Balvin, and Rita Ora. Payne also served as a judge on Netflix’s Building the Band before his untimely death in October 2024.

Meanwhile, Tomlinson has continued to forge one of the group’s most distinct musical identities. After the success of his debut solo album, Walls, and his latest studio album, 2022’s Faith in the Future, the singer is gearing up for the release of his new album, How Did I Get Here? set to be released on January 23, 2026. Beyond his discography, Tomlinson is also stepping into new ventures, including an upcoming Netflix series in collaboration with Zayn Malik. This highly anticipated reunion has fans eagerly awaiting the show’s release.