Liam Payne was not known only for his amazing voice and role in One Direction, but also for his perseverance. On Aug 29, 1993, Payne was born prematurely in Wolverhampton, England. As a child, he often suffered illnesses due to him being born premature, spending a lot of time in the hospital. In school, Payne was very involved in sports such as running and boxing, although he was bullied for it. He went to study music technology at City of Wolverhampton College.
However, the life of Liam Payne took a sharp turn on Oct 18, 2024, when he fell from his balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was pronounced dead at the scene when officials arrived, sustaining significant traumatic injuries, along with internal and external bleeding. Payne was seen with alcohol in his room, although it is to be noted he had suffered an alcohol addiction prior to his death. Autopsy reports reveal that Payne had pink cocaine in his system at the time of his passing, and investigators say the drugs may have led him to be unconscious at the time of his fall.
As a teenager, Payne auditioned for the fifth season of the British singing competition, The X Factor. However, he got cut, and was asked to return in a couple of years. He returned to the show, and after once again not making it far, he got placed together with Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson, forming a five-person boy band, known to be One Direction.
Winning nearly 200 music awards and selling over 70 million records, One Direction had grown to become one of the most successful boy bands in the world. Their first single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” released in 2011, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Sony Music Entertainment’s most preordered song. That same year, the band debuted their first album, “Up All Night”, and went on tour. In 2012, “Up All Night” was the third best selling album in the world.
After the success of their first album, the group released two new singles. Following the release of their new songs, One Direction released their second studio album, “Take Me Home”, going on another worldwide tour. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200, and the boy band became the first group in US history to have two number one albums. In 2013, One Direction released their third studio album, “Midnight Memories,” with their lead single, “Best Song Ever,” their highest charting song ever in the US. After going on a successful tour of Midnight Memories, in 2014 the group released their fourth and final album as a quintet, due to Zayn Malik’s departure from the band that year, Four, which became a hit as well. In 2015, One Direction released their final album, “Made in the A.M.,” without Malik.
After One Direction went on hiatus, Liam Payne began to focus on his career as a solo artist. In 2017, he released his debut single, “Strip That Down,” featuring Quavo. Becoming an immediate hit, the song reached number three on the UK Singles Chart and number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Following the release of “Strip That Down,” Payne released his first EP, “First Time” in 2018, and followed with the release of his first album, LP1 in 2020.
