Louis Tomlinson's mother Johannah Deakin tragically passed away on Wednesday at the age of 43 after a battle with Leukemia. She left behind 7 children, including Louis, and one grandson. The heartbreaking news broke on Friday and many expected the One Direction singer to cancel his long scheduled debut solo performance on the X Factor on Saturday. It was his mother's dying wish, though, for her son to take the stage, so he did. X Factor judge and longtime mentor to Louis, Simon Cowell, praised him for his bravery in such a tragic time.
Simon wasn't the only one to offer Louis support during his performance. People reports that Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and even Zayn Malik were in attendance at Wembley Arena. Niall was in New York City last night for iHeartRadio Jingleball hosted by Z100 and reportedly flew to London immediately after his performance, despite having another stateside appearance scheduled for next week. Now we know he went to support his band mate. The four One Direction members even sat together in the audience as Louis sang his first solo song "Just Hold On", a collaboration with DJ Steve Aoki, that was inspired by his mother.
While Liam, Niall, and (yes, even) Zayn were quick to share their condolences on Twitter when the sad news broke, we're sure having his four 1D bandmates show up for him meant so much to Louis. The five boys haven't been seen together since March 2015, so this gesture just goes to show how much they mean to each other even after all this time. Zayn and Louis, in particular, had a big falling out after Zayn infamously quit the band that made them famous. Zayn, though, was one of the first people to reach out to Louis on Twitter.
Our thoughts are with Louis and his family at this time, as well. We hope seeing his friends' faces in the audience helped him to get through his emotional performance.