In October 2024, the world lost 31-year-old Liam Payne, an amazing singer, songwriter, and person. Payne was on vacation in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when he passed after falling from his third-story room at the CasaSur Palmero hotel. Payne was said to have entered the hotel intoxicated before being escorted up to his room. The substances in his system were believed to have caused Payne to become unconscious before his fall.
In the past, Payne has had issues with alcohol, an unfortunate downside to child stardom. Several people and media outlets felt they could comment on this, without knowing Liam themselves. Rose Greenspan (12) said it best: “A lot of what you see of celebrities is just on social media, and social media is always just a highlight reel, so you’ll never actually see what they’re going through.”
TMZ decided to further exacerbate the situation by posting photos of his body to the Internet minutes after his death. The backlash was immediate and deserved, according to many who heard of it. Emma Mabry (12) said it plain and simple: “The rest of the world doesn’t need to see photos about him dying.” Thankfully, more emphasis has been placed on the good Payne brought to the world.
Born in Wolverhampton, UK, Payne began his rise to stardom in 2010 after auditioning on the British TV show X-Factor for the second time. Though he did not make it through the first time, his talent was finally recognized, and he was selected to be in a band with Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Harry Styles that would later be called One Direction. The group continued to compete with other successful acts from X-Factor and came in third in the competition. Simon Cowell, one of the judges on X-Factor who had a hand in the band’s formation, then signed the group with his record label Syco Records. One Direction has become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, as evidenced by the millions of records sold. They also had a movie called This Is Us, which contained clips from their “Where We Are” tour, behind-the-scenes of tour life, and clips from their downtime.
In 2016, One Direction announced they would be going on a break. When that break extended farther than expected, no one knew if the members would try for solo careers and if that endeavor would be successful. The combination of Payne’s pure musical talent and loveable personality made him prosper after the hiatus. He created one album, LP1, which had hits like “Strip That Down” and “Get Low,” as well as some singles like “Midnight.” His upbeat and catchy tunes will continue to stay in the hearts of fans.
Suri Coleman (11) shared that “Music has always given me the confidence to go about my day and is very impactful to most people I think. The songs I did listen to of Liam’s gave me the boost I needed to get through my day.”
Recently, Payne released the single “Teardrops”, which seemed to begin his new era of music and the possibility of a new album. Unfortunately, he did not get the chance to release anything afterward, but fans have continued to show support by streaming his music.
In honor of Liam, This Is Us was briefly shown in theaters again, and fans have coordinated memorials all around the world. Rose Greenspan shared that when she heard the news, she “was very distraught at first, and then I called my best friend because I knew she would be very upset about this. I knew I had to watch out for her cause mental health matters.”
Besides all the adoring fans who were heartbroken and joined together to try and cope with Liam’s passing, countless celebrities and influencers took to Instagram to share their tribute with stories of Liam’s impact on them. Niall, Louis, Zayn, and Harry all had extremely personal and impactful words to share about their love for their former bandmate. Zayn shared, “When I was missing home as a 17-year-old kid you would always be there with a positive outlook and reassuring smile and let me know you were my friend and that I was loved.” Louis put his heart on his sleeve as well for his tribute and even promised that “if Bear ever needs me I will be the Uncle he needs in his life and tell him stories of how amazing his dad was.” The original tributes from each member of One Direction can be found on Instagram.
