Louis Tomlinson released heart-breaking new track in honour of his mum

One Direction star Louis Tomlinson has poured his heart in to a song about his mum and dealing with grief – after his mother Johannah died from cancer in 2016.

Tomlinson unveiled the poignant Two Of Us today (7 March) on Twitter, along with the words: “So excited to share this with you guys. #TwoOfUs is out now.”

Johanna died aged 43 after being diagnosed with leukaemia, leaving behind seven children, including two-year-old twins.

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In an interview with BBC Newsbeat, the former One Direction singer revealed: “It was something I needed to get off my chest. I used to lean on my mum for a lot of things – anytime I needed advice on something she would be the first call I made.”

The opening line Two of Us goes: “It’s been a minute since I called you, just to hear your answerphone, I know you won’t get this, but I’ll leave a message so I’m not alone.”

As the eldest of his siblings, Louis felt a certain amount of responsibility when Johannah died – and this continued when he played the song to his sisters.

Louis described it as ‘a tough one’ playing the new song to his sisters, because he was concerned it might upset them. He said: “I don’t want people to get caught up in the sadness of it – the song should be hopeful.

“There is a lot of fight in life and I just get on with it. I’m quite a positive person but there’s no two ways about it – it’s sad what happened to me.”

Louis went on to describe the process of recording the song as ’empowering’.

The track has been well received on Twitter by some of Tomlinson’s 33.2 million followers.

One follower said: “..I lost my mom seven years ago..and this puts words to the feelings I have never been able to explain.”

Two Of Us is available now.