Louis Tomlinson has discussed how hitting “rock bottom” after the death of his sister helped him gain perspective in other areas of his life.
Earlier this year, the singer’s 18-year-old sister Felicité died after taking an accidental overdose, less than two years after they lost their mother Johanna to leukaemia.
Speaking to The Guardian, the former One Direction star admitted that having been through such turbulent times helped him realise what was really important, particularly when it comes to his music career.
“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 shit that I’m going to have to deal with,” he 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.”
Louis continued: “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.”
He also added that he doesn’t “want people to feel sorry for me”, noting: “That’s not how I feel for myself. Somehow it fuels me.”
Earlier this month, a toxicologist said “toxic” levels of cocaine, Xanax and Oxycodone had been found in Félicité’s system at the time of her death.
An inquest heard how the teen had a “history of recreational drug use”, following the loss of her mother, and had been admitted to drug rehabilitation and referred to a private drug addiction health clinic last year.