Johannah Deakin, mother of Louis Tomlinson, sadly passed away from Leukemia at the age of 43 on December 9th, 2016. The tragic news came as a surprise, since the Tomlinson/Deakin family chose to keep Johannah’s diagnosis private. Throughout this sad time, many have expressed their condolences to the family.
Liam Payne
Niall Horan
Zayn Malik
Simon Cowell
Lou Teasdale
Steve Aoki
Cheryl
Nathan Sykes
Piers Morgan
Danielle Peazer
In honor of Johannah’s passing, Louis collaborated with Steve Aoki to create a song for her called “Just Hold On,” which reached the #1 position on the iTunes Dance charts. It also debuted at #2 on the iTunes’ Top Songs chart, just behind Zayn and Taylor Swift’s collaboration of “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever.”
Just days after her death, Louis performed “Just Hold On” on The X Factor UK in remembrance of his mother, to which he gave an emotional performance that moved everyone watching in the audience and at home.
Simon Cowell told Louis, "I've known you now for six years [and] what you've just done, and the bravery, I respect you as an artist, I respect you as a person.” He continued, "Your mum was so proud of you, Louis, and she was so looking forward to tonight. She's looking down on you now. She's so proud."
Louis tweeted, “That was harder than I ever imagined. I want to thank everyone around me and all of the amazing fans out there that made that so special!” Then sent another tweet, “Feeling so much love around me and my family. Mum would have been so f***ing proud ( sorry for swearing mum 
) love you !”
