‘The X Factor’ UK final: Louis Tomlinson performing tonight after mother Johannah Deakin’s death

Louis Tomlinson is certainly showing some strength in the toughest of times.

Earlier this week, the news first broke that the One Direction member’s mother Johannah Deakin had passed away at the age of 42 after a battle with leukemia over the course of the past several months. It was news that reverberated throughout the fan community, and his bandmate Niall Horan even took to social media to publicly support him.

With the first part of the “X Factor” final airing tonight, Louis is going to try to channel much of that support into his first-ever solo performance. In a post on Twitter (see below), he proclaimed “let’s do this together tonight” as a response to much of the support he’s received in the wake of what transpired. This performance is likely going to be a moving one for him in so many different ways, and it also will take him back to his very first audition on the show — which was back when he was a solo artist and One Direction didn’t even exist.

Even though the guys are all currently working on some other subjects, the base idea still remains of One Direction as a four-piece band and they could get together again down the road. For Louis, his connection with “The X Factor” is probably even greater than anyone else’s. There were rumors before this year that he would go on to be one of the judges on the show, but that didn’t happen and a different Louis in Louis Walsh was brought back instead. (Walsh went through his own controversy over this year courtesy of some comments that upset Liam Payne.)

For now, let’s channel all of our support towards Louis tonight, and hope that he has a chance to really go out and deliver an incredible performance. Our thoughts are with him and everyone who loved his mother.