London, Aug 14 (IANS): Singer Louis Tomlinson says he once got scolded by music mogul Simon Cowell for getting drunk before heading on stage with his One Direction bandmates for one of their first gigs.

The singer was flown out to Los Angeles via business class and put up in Four Seasons hotel by Cowell, who guided the British band to the top of the industry, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Tomlinson opened up about the moment during an interview with Matt Edmondson on BBC Radio 1 while promoting his new solo single "Back to you".

The former boy band star got famous in his teenage years when he joined One Direction after auditioning for "The X Factor" back in 2010.

"I thought well I'll just have a couple of beers and I ended up being really, really drunk on this show -- one of the first things (One Direction) did. I woke up to a text to find out that I was going to Los Angeles the next morning -- flown out. I sat on the plane thinking, 'What is coming next?' I landed at Simon's and he gave me a little dressing down."

Tomlinson added: "It was positive. But it certainly felt like the scary Simon you see on TV!"