Louis William Tomlinson (/ˈluːi ˈtɒmlɪnsən/; 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. He 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 put into a group with four other contestants, forming One Direction, which went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
Following the group's hiatus in 2016, "Just Hold On" was released as Tomlinson's 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, certified platinum in the USA and 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. He became the first former contestant of the show to become the winning mentor due to his mentee Dalton Harris winning the show. 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", preceding his debut album Walls, released in January 2020.