Simon Cowell has confirmed Louis Tomlinson's solo record deal with Syco.
Louis Tomlinson
The 24-year-old heartthrob will launch his own music career on the 57-year-old music mogul's label, which he has an imprint with, and the 'X Factor' boss has called the One Direction star his "mini me".
He told The Sun newspaper: "I think that was always the plan, I love Louis, he's a great guy. He's part of the family and we've become friends.
"He's got a label with us and he's signed an artist, so he's like a mini me now."
The 'History' hitmaker is the only member of the group - also comprised of Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Niall Horan - to stay with Syco as the others have opted to sign to different major labels including Liam Payne, who inked a deal with Capitol Records.
Meanwhile, it looks like Louis is heading in a completely new direction with his solo music, as it was recently reported he's recorded an EDM (electronic dance music) track with superstar DJ Steve Aoki, which is expected to be released later this month.
A source previously said:"Louis and Steve partied a few times in the summer.
"They were just mucking around in the studio at first but ended up coming up with something special. It's miles away from what Louis did with One Direction."
Louis and Steve partied together in Ibiza during the summer and Louis recently jetted to Las Vegas with pals to help celebrate Steve's 39th birthday.
It has been claimed that Louis will give the first performance of the new song during the live final of 'The X Factor' - the show which launched One Direction to fame - later this month.
Tagged in Simon Cowell One Direction Louis Tomlinson