Louis Tomlinson

Louis William Tomlinson (; born Louis Troy Austin; 24 December 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Tomlinson began his career appearing in television dramas before he auditioned on the British music competition series The X Factor in 2010. After being eliminated as a solo performer, he was placed into a group with four other contestants, forming One Direction. One Direction went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. Following the group's hiatus in 2016, Tomlinson released "Just Hold On" as a debut solo single in December 2016. It peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and was certified platinum in the UK. In 2017, Tomlinson released "Back to You" with American singer Bebe Rexha (which was certified platinum in the USA and the UK) and "Miss You". In the same year, he appeared on Debrett's 2017 list of the most influential people in the UK. In 2018, Tomlinson appeared on the fifteenth series of The X Factor as a judge and a mentor of the "Boys" category. When his mentee Dalton Harris won the competition, Tomlinson became the first former contestant of the show to become the winning mentor. The following year, Tomlinson released the singles "Two of Us", "Kill My Mind", "We Made It", "Don't Let It Break Your Heart" and "Walls". His debut solo album, Walls, was released in January 2020, where it debuted at number four in the UK and number nine on the US Billboard 200. Tomlinson's second album, Faith in the Future, was released in November 2022, where it debuted at number one in the UK and number five in the US. Early life and family Louis Troy Austin was born on 24 December 1991 in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, to then 18-year-old Johannah "Jay" Poulston and Troy Austin, who left when he was an infant. He is estranged from his father and later took on his then stepfather Mark Tomlinson's surname, legally changing his name to Louis William Tomlinson. He was raised with four younger half-sisters; Charlotte, Félicité (2000–2019), and twins Phoebe and Daisy from Poulston's marriage to Mark. He also has three other half-siblings; a younger paternal half-sister, Georgia, and twins Doris and Ernest (born 2014) from Poulston's relationship with Dan Deakin, whom she later married. Tomlinson has some Belgian ancestry.