Louis Tomlinson has spoken for the first time about the death of his younger sister Félicité, who passed away in March this year. The 18-year-old was tragically found in her west London flat, with an inquest ruling that she had taken an accidental overdose. Her sad passing came just over two years after the death of their mother, Johannah Deakin, who died in December 2016 at the age of 43 after a battle with an aggressive form of leukaemia. Speaking to the Guardian, One Direction star Louis admitted the tragedies had given him an inner strength and a new perspective on his pop career.
Louis Tomlinson's sister Félicité pictured in 2015
"That whole dark side I've gone through, it sounds stupid to say, but it gives me strength everywhere else in my life, because that's the darkest s*** that I'm going to have to deal with," the 27-year-old said. "So it makes everything else, not feel easier and not less important, but, in the grand scheme of things, you see things for what they are, I suppose." And, as the oldest of his mother's seven children, "there's no time for me to be sat feeling sorry for myself. I've been to rock bottom and I feel like, whatever my career's going to throw in front of me, it's going to be nothing as big or as emotionally heavy as that. So, weirdly, I've turned something that's really dark into something that empowers me, makes me stronger".
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His fans, too, have been crucial. "I'm sure every artist says this, but I do believe it," Louis said. "We've been through some dark times together and those things I've been through, they carry a weight, emotionally, on the fans as well. And I felt their love and support. I remember really clearly when I lost my mum, that support was mad."
The One Direction star with his mother, Johannah
Louis was incredibly close to his mother. He performed his first solo single on The X Factor just a few days after her death. The singer later penned the ballad Two Of Us, which was released the same month as Félicité's tragic death. Following his incredibly poignant performance on The X Factor, Louis' former mentor Simon Cowell told him: "What you've just done… the bravery. I respect you as an artist and I respect you as a person. Your mum was so proud of you, Louis. She was so looking forward to tonight. She's watching down on you now and you've done her proud."