The death of Liam Payne brought the surviving members of One Direction closer than they'd been in a long time, but Louis Tomlinson isn't sure whether their renewed relationships will last. "I suppose that we'll see in time," the pop star, 34, told Billboard when asked whether he thinks the band's newfound "closeness" will continue long-term. "Naturally, there is a closeness - it definitely feels closer than it was. But I think we're all so busy, it's hard to keep that consistency. It also depends person to person. Like, Niall [Horan] - and hopefully he'd say the same about me - we could not exchange a text in a whole year and then go for a beer and literally be chatting nonstop." Tomlinson opened up about his past with 1D and his career as a solo artist in a Billboard cover story published Monday, January 12. The "Lemonade" singer admitted that he was worried about feeling like a "has-been" at 24 when 1D went on hiatus in 2016. "That was really f***ing scary," Tomlinson told the outlet. "I was never thinking, 'I'll be in that group [of One Direction alumni] that succeeds.'" Louis Tomlinson Says He Will 'Never Really Accept' Liam Payne's Death He added, "There might be one or two people from a band that prosper, but history says there's not normally more than two. ... I always knew Harry [Styles] was going to go on to do what he's done - I'm sure he's superseded his own expectations in the way that he's taken over the world, but we knew he's got everything it takes to be a great artist. And Niall, I had a good feeling about too - he's Irish, he's lovely, everyone loves him." Now gearing up to release his third solo album, How Did I Get Here?, Tomlinson said that there are still a few 1D songs he doesn't mind singing as a man in his mid-30s with a 9-year-old at home. (He shares son Freddie, who turns 10 later this month, with ex Briana Jungwirth.) Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Niall Horan. Ian Gavan/Getty Images "For starters, I like to pick one that I wrote - but the biggest challenge is finding a lyric that feels all right to sing as a 34-year-old guy. And that's actually not the easiest thing to do, because some of those One Direction lyrics are f***ing raunchy, man, proper!" he quipped. "I put off singing 'No Control' forever. There was something kind of beautiful about the fact that everyone was always asking for it, and I never did it. But I did buckle during my Away From Home festival, and actually, I really enjoyed it. I've not sang that song for a long time, and that song was a big moment for me in the band, actually." Tomlinson noted that he will "never really accept" the loss of Payne, who died in October 2024 at age 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson's Friendship Through the Years At his funeral one month later, Tomlinson and his other 1D bandmates - Horan, 32, Styles, 31, and Zayn Malik - made their first public appearance together since Malik, 33, left the group in 2015. "[Liam's death] was a wake-up call for all of them. Prior, they kept in touch sporadically but didn't have close friendships at all," an insider exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2024, noting that the guys planned to mend their friendships. "They're all still mourning but are checking in on each other and feel closer than they have in years. It brought them back together."