According to iHeart, in November 2021, former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson officially broke a Guinness World Record. The boyband alum sold the most tickets for a live-streamed concert by a solo male artist. Tomlinson played the “Live in London” concert in aid of four different charities, raising over $1 million in the process, as Guinness World Records confirmed. His touring crew also received a portion of the proceeds, due to being out of work during the pandemic.
The gig took place in December 2020 and was watched by 160,000 viewers. Tomlinson performed 18 songs total, including cuts from his debut solo record “Walls,” and three One Direction covers. Tomlinson took to Twitter to celebrate breaking a world record, writing, “Can’t get my head round this! Thank you to anyone who watched the stream. Very proud moment!”
The singer-songwriter took his time releasing a solo album, telling Rolling Stone, “I definitely could have made a quick record, a more trendy record. But I think it’s a big thing for me as a writer that it’s got to be believable coming out of my mouth. So lyrics are really important to me.” Unlike many of his contemporaries, and despite breaking records in his own right, the Doncaster native still holds his time with 1D in high regard.
He noted, “I f*****g love the boys, and I love everything we’ve done together. And I still miss my time with them.”
