Louis Tomlinson has said he did not feel “in control” during much of his time in One Direction.
The singer has spoken out about his experience with the group in upcoming documentary All of Those Voices.
The 31-year-old was propelled to international stardom in 2010 after he and his band members were put together as a group on the X Factor, although they auditioned as solo singers.
Tomlinson, who was in the group alongside Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik, now suggests that he felt like a pop puppet for years until, in the end, he pushed for a chance to write some of the band’s songs.
The singer stars in new documentary All Of Those Voices, which looks back on the hit band’s overnight success
In a teaser trailer for his new doc, he said: “It had always been in my mind that it’d be cool if we weren’t just the standard boyband who just got given songs and sang them.
“I realised that we might be able to make a few of our own decisions and that was the first moment in my One Direction career that I felt ownership of what we were doing.
“All of a sudden, I felt in control again.”
The father-of-one explained: “The first two and a half years, I just felt like I wasn’t in control of myself and certainly not necessarily had an influence on the band.”
He then revealed that his proudest moment was having the most songwriting credits of the five members.
“That makes me feel important to the band and that’s all I ever wanted,” he admitted.
Tomlinson is credited for helping to pen a fair few of the group’s biggest hits including No Control, Perfect, History, Last First Kiss, Diana, Strong, Through the Dark, Midnight Memories and Night Changes.
He’s also set to open up about his feelings about One Direction’s split in 2016 and life as a solo artist.
All Of Those Voices hits cinemas March 22
