"I’m not undermining the journey, ‘cause obviously it worked out great," said Tomlinson in a new interview on 'BBC Radio 2'
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NEED TO KNOW
- Louis Tomlinson revealed he “always” disliked performing One Direction’s 2011 hit “What Makes You Beautiful”
- He shared that singing the song felt “corny” and likened its lyrics to something from a Disney film
- Tomlinson named “Story of My Life” as his favorite One Direction track, calling it a turning point for the band
One Direction's massive debut single was never a favorite for Louis Tomlinson.
In a new interview with Scott Mills on BBC Radio 2, the 34-year-old "Lemonade" singer revealed his least favorite One Direction songs to perform was "always, always, always" the group's 2011 hit "What Makes You Beautiful."
"Two reasons on that, it’s definitely our most pop and most bubble gum pop moment," began Tomlinson, as Mills insisted the song is "a good record."
"Okay, I’ll take your word for it," quipped Tomlinson, who insisted he's "not undermining the journey, ‘cause obviously it worked out great."
His second reason for not loving the song? "Performing that always felt so eggy," he said. "At the time I was 18, and it wasn’t the coolest thing to be in a boy band, and then we got really big, so it was cool… But for the first couple of years it wasn’t really like that."
Tomlinson continued, "So, you know, singing, ‘Baby, you light up my world like nobody else,’ honestly, it wouldn’t be out of place in a Disney film, so it did just feel a little corny."
Released as the lead single off One Direction's debut album Up All Night, "What Makes You Beautiful" reached No. 1 in the band's native U.K. and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.
The "Palaces" artist also spoke about his preferred One Direction track in the BBC Radio 2 interview. "My favorite One Direction song as it is on record is probably ‘Story Of My Life.’ I think that was a real moment," he said.
"That’s not the kind of record you expect from a band like One Direction, and I think that was kind of a turning point for us," added Tomlinson. "So I remember feeling really proud that that wasn’t the kind of song that you could ever dance to. There was definitely a kind of mold of boy bands before then, and I think that was a song that really helped us kind of break out of that."
"Story of My Life" came out in October 2013 as the second single off One Direction's third album Midnight Memories. The song hit No. 2 in the U.K. and No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Tomlinson was in One Direction — which also featured Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and the late Liam Payne — from the group's inception in 2010 through 2016, when they announced an indefinite hiatus. [Malik exited the band in 2015.]
In January, Tomlinson released his third solo album, How Did I Get Here? He'll embark on a world tour in support of the project later this month.
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