Steve Aoki has been part of the music world for years. He’s behind a number of hits, has an incredibly large following, and also runs a charity organization; and he does it all with a smile on his face. He’s talented, he’s compassionate, and lately, he’s been a big part of the One Direction world as well. Earlier in 2016, Louis Tomlinson and Steve became fast friends, seen together in Vegas, Ibiza, and on private jets.
After the jet setting and the shows, fans began wondering if the pair may be working on music together alongside their budding friendship. Those speculations were further ignited when Steve told an interviewer at the ARIAS that he couldn’t answer the question asked about working on music with Louis. Fans immediately began imagining a song with the two of them together which, while very different than the familiar sound of One Direction, was an incredible thought.
The thought however, held no candle to the real thing.
‘Just Hold On’ was released just days after the heartbreaking news that Johannah Deakin, Louis’ mother, died from an aggressive form of Leukemia. Her diagnosis came in 2016 and she had been hospitalized since May. Through the year there were no signs or hints of a thing being out of sorts. Johannah fought her battle with grace and in silence, not wanting to draw attention to her condition; instead, she wanted to continue to change the lives of other people who were suffering and enjoy her time with her family.
Not only was the song released days after the news of her death broke, Steve cancelled his own shows to jump on a plane to London and perform it on stage alongside Louis, who put on a brave and beautiful face while he sang the heart-wrenching lyrics and looked up towards the sky, where his mother was certainly looking down on him, covering him with her love.
Beside Louis, through it all, has been Steve and not only did Steve change Louis’ life, he’s done a lot for One Direction fans too. He’s done the one thing that we all wish we could have, he’s made Louis smile, and eased a bit of his hurt.
Now, a dedicated group of fans created a project to showSteve how thankful we all are for everything he’s done. A project has been created called #ThankYouAoki and fans are encouraged to submit photos or fan art that tell Steve thank you! The project is open through December 27th which means you’ve got just over a week to take part in this project and let him know that he’s had a huge impact on all of us.
There’s an email address set up as well where you can ask more questions and it’s also where you’ll send your submissions! You can begin sending in your submissions now, so don’t forget to visit their Twitter and follow them for updates, ideas, and any information you may need.
Once you get involved, tweet us at @CelebMix1D and let us know. We’d love to talk to you about it.