Louis Tomlinson has announced his new album ‘How Did I Get Here?’, along with new single ‘Lemonade’ and details of 2026 UK and European tour dates.
The new album will be the first from former One Direction member since his sophomore solo record, ‘Faith In The Future’, which arrived in 2022. After dropping hints with fans last month, he has now confirmed that it will be released on January 23 – visit here to pre-order.
Tomlinson has also shared the funk-inspired lead single ‘Lemonade’, which comes rife with groove-heavy guitars, thumping percussion and charismatic, flirty vocals.
“The most important thing was for the first single to sound ambitious sonically,” he said. “It had to be big and fun. To me, ‘Lemonade’ really has instant and natural personality. It ended up being the perfect way to begin this chapter.”
As for the record as a whole, Tomlinson said that ‘How Did I Get Here?’ will see him push the boundaries of himself as a lyricist, songwriter, and performer.
“I sum up it as ‘The record I always deserved to make’”, he said. “My bread and butter is the honesty. I genuinely wear my heart on my sleeve, and I hope it comes through in the music. I’m still learning and getting better as a singer and a songwriter. I find it impossible to be complacent; it’s not in my vocabulary. For the first time now, I’m allowing myself to be the artist I’d always hoped to be.”
The singer began hinting at new music earlier this year when he shared snippets of himself in a studio in Costa Rica on TikTok. Before heading there, he assembled a handful of initial ideas in the English countryside at the beginning of 2025, and started writing alongside primary collaborator and co-producer Nico Rebscher.
“Taking all of the steps I did to get here was important,” Tomlinson added. “I needed to the confidence to become the artist I wanted to be and make a hopefully big, but personal album. I think I did.”
Today (Wednesday October 1), Tomlinson has also announced details of a huge huge 2026 world arena tour.
This will see him play across the UK and Europe next spring, with dates kicking off in Hamburg on March 23. From there he will play in Helsinki, Vienna, Prague and more, before heading over to the UK and Ireland for seven shows.
UK dates include stops in Manchester, Glasgow, and Brighton, and wrap up on May 3 with a closing night at The O2 in London.
Tickets go on sale next Friday (October 10) at 9am local time, and you can get access to the pre-sale by pre-ordering ‘How Did I Get Here?’ before 12pm BST next Tuesday (October 7). Visit here for tickets to UK dates and here for international tickets.
Louis Tomlinson’s 2026 UK and European tour dates are:
MARCH
23 – Barclays Arena, Hamburg
25 – Unity Arena, Oslo
27 -Veikkaus Arena, Helsinki
29 – Avicii Arena, Stockholm
30 – KB Hallen, Copenhagen
APRIL
1 – Uber Arena, Berlin
2 – Lanxess Arena, Cologne
4 – Arena Gliwice, Gliwice
5 – O2 Arena, Prague
6 – Marx Halle, Vienna
9 – Unipol Arena, Bologna
10 – Unipol Forum, Milan
12 – Palau Sant Jordi, Barcleona
13 – Movistar Arena, Madrid
15 – LDLC Arena, Lyon
17 – Olympiahalle, Munich
19 – Lotto Arena, Antwerp
20 – Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam
21 – Accor Arena, Paris
24 – Co-op Live, Manchester
25 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham
27 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
28 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
30 – 3Arena, Dublin
MAY
2 – The Brighton Centre, Brighton
3 – The O2, London
The new album follows on from his 2022 record ‘Faith In The Future’ and, before then, he made his solo debut with the 2020 album ‘Walls’.
Speaking to NME in 2022, the singer said he was “definitely” more comfortable with who he was as an artist compared to when he first went solo.
“That has been a process and I think it’ll be an ever-evolving process as well,” he told us. “But I definitely feel really comfortable about just following my heart musically and seeing where it gets me.”
The post Louis Tomlinson shares funk-inspired single ‘Lemonade’ to announce new album ‘How Did I Get Here?’ and 2026 UK and Ireland tour appeared first on NME.