By Aaron Rodnhausen
Elm Staff Writer
On Oct. 16, One Direction fans around the world were shocked to learn that singer Liam Payne had died at age 31. Payne was pronounced dead in Argentina after he fell three stories from the balcony of his Buenos Aires hotel. He had been visiting the country to attend a performance by Niall Horan, his former bandmate.
Payne’s death followed a string of personal struggles and public controversies that began all the way back in One Direction’s heyday.
The band formed in 2010 after its five members — Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Horan — auditioned for “The X Factor” and were subsequently united into a single group by judge Simon Cowell.
According to The Associated Press, the band experienced “a meteoric rise to fame on par with Beatlemania” following the release of their first album, “Up All Night,” in 2011.
Barely a year later, life in the public eye was already taking its toll on Payne’s mental health.
According to The Telegraph, the pressure of worldwide fame “came to a head in New York in 2012, when Payne was walking to a restaurant with his parents and a paparazzo accidentally pushed his mother over.”
“I was like, ‘Oh, f— this. F— this s—t.’ There was a swarm of them and I just wanted a burger with my parents…I cried my eyes out. I thought, ‘I can’t do this,’ and really hated my life,” Payne said.
In early 2015, Malik left One Direction, and the group went on indefinite hiatus a year later. Payne continued to top the charts in his solo career, co-writing his first single, “Strip That Down,” with Ed Sheeran and releasing it in 2019.
During this time, Payne faced scrutiny from the media and the internet regarding his relationships. After breaking up with X Factor judge Cheryl Tweedy, who gave birth to Payne’s son in 2017, the singer began a relationship with model Maya Henry. Payne and Henry were engaged twice before breaking up permanently in 2022.
According to The Independent, “shortly before his death, Henry reportedly sent a cease-and-desist to [Payne], accusing him of repeatedly contacting her, her friends, and family.”
As for Payne and his bandmates, it is unknown whether or not they remained in contact following their split. In 2022, the singer faced criticism for claims that he made about them on an episode of Logan Paul’s podcast, “Impaulsive.”
According to The Independent, Payne used that platform to “criticize his former bandmates, claiming that the group dynamic was ‘a little bit toxic,’ and calling out Malik in particular. He also claimed he almost ‘came to blows’ with a bandmate backstage before a show.”
However, after receiving widespread backlash for these critical remarks, Payne “walked back his comments and revealed he had checked into rehab.”
“A lot of what I said came from the wrong place,” Payne said to The Independent. “I was so angry at what was going on around me and instead of taking a look inwards I decided to look outwards at everybody else.”
After spending time at a sobriety treatment plan in Louisiana, Payne celebrated his sixth-month anniversary in 2023. In March of 2024, Payne released his only single in the last three years, “Teardrops.”
According to The Independent, the song was about “the vulnerability of heartbreak and the challenge of overcoming those moments.”
Two weeks before Payne’s death, he and Horan managed to connect in Argentina.
“All the laughs we had over the years, sometimes about the simplelest of things, keep coming to mind through the sadness. We got to live out our wildest dreams together and I will cherish every moment we had forever. The bond and friendship we had doesn’t happen often in a lifetime,” Horan wrote in a post on his Instagram alongside an older photo of him and Payne.
Styles, Malik, and Tomlinson also posted messages in the wake of Payne’s death alongside countless fans, showing how Payne’s music career connected with listeners.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo Caption: Singer and former member of boy band One Direction Liam Payne passed away on Oct. 16.