English singer-songwriter Louis Tomlinson has written tracks on both of his studio albums, Walls (2020) and Faith in the Future (2022), and for his former band One Direction. He has writing credits on over 90 songs. [1] Tomlinson has co-written 7 songs that have appeared in the top 10 of the UK Singles chart. [a]
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After co-writing a few songs on the One Direction albums Up All Night (2011) and Take Me Home (2012), [1] Tomlinson took a more active writing role for Midnight Memories (2013), co-writing 9 tracks out of the 14 on the standard edition of the album. [4] Tomlinson also co-wrote 3 of the 4 bonus tracks on the deluxe edition of the album. [5] Tomlinson co-wrote the second single for the album, "Story of My Life", which peaked at number 2 on the UK singles chart [6] and sold over 3 million records in the United States. [7] "Diana", which Tomlinson also co-wrote, topped iTunes charts worldwide upon release and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. [8] [9]
In 2014, for the band's album Four , Tomlinson co-wrote "No Control". The song became subject to a fan campaign to officially release it as a single, [10] and to reach number 1 on the charts. [11] It was picked as it was a song primarily written by Tomlinson and fellow band member Liam Payne, [11] and to show support to Tomlinson after a feud with producer Naughty Boy on Twitter. [10] "Night Changes" was written by Tomlinson with all four other original band members, as well as Jamie Scott, Julian Bunetta, and John Ryan. [12] Following band member Liam Payne's death in October 2024, the song, along with the rest of One Direction's discography, experienced a surge in streams. [13] The song eventually peaked at number 6 on the UK singles chart. [14] Tomlinson co-wrote "Steal My Girl", which peaked at number 3 on the UK Singles chart. [15] Tomlinson has writing credits on more than half of the tracks on Made in the A.M. , including "Perfect", "What a Feeling", "Love You Goodbye", and "History", [16] the latter being the band's final single before going on an indefinite hiatus. [17]
Tomlinson co-wrote his first solo single "Just Hold On" with Steve Aoki, Eric Rosse, Sasha Alex Sloan, and Nolan Lambroza. [18] [19] The song peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles chart, becoming Tomlinson's highest charting song as of July 2025. [2] "Back to You", Tomlinson's second solo single, [20] was also co-written by him and peaked at number 8 on the UK singles chart. [21] For his debut studio album, Tomlinson has songwriting credits on all tracks. [22] Tomlinson also has songwriting credits on all tracks of his second studio album, [23] which debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. [24] Other than One Direction and himself, Tomlinson has songwriting credits for "Changes" by musician Blackbear from his 2019 album Anonymous , [25] [26] "Love Shot" by Chinese-South Korean boy band Exo from their 2018 album Don't Mess Up My Tempo , [27] [28] and the 2023 single "POS" by musician Sueco. [29] [30]
Tomlinson has the most writing credits for One Direction's discography. [31] [32] Tomlinson credited this for him feeling "ownership" of his career, noting that within the first two and a half years of the band, he felt as though he lacked influence on it. [31] Tomlinson and fellow band member Liam Payne are considered the main songwriters for the band, with Payne having the second-most writing credits after Tomlinson. [33] Rania Aniftos for Billboard has praised Tomlinson's songwriting, describing him as "one of pop music's most thoughtful songwriters". [34]
