October 16, 2024, ex-One Direction member Liam Payne tragically died falling multiple stories from the Case Sur hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
For many students, One Direction was a big part of their childhoods. Whether it was having a crush on Harry Styles or loving the upbeat and romantic lyrics, young boys and girls alike obsessed over the British boy band.
In 2011, One Direction shot quickly to the number one charts and moved from the UK to the US. Members Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, and Zayn Malik, were between the ages 16-18 when their world changed.
All boys had auditioned for The X-Factor as solo artists, but later got paired together by record executive Simon Cowell. The X-Factor is a music competition in the UK, where contestants can compete for a recording contract with Sony Music Entertainment.
With One Direction becoming a worldwide sensation in 2010, the boys had finished their first record “Up All Night” in November 2011. The album has lyrics about being young, heartbroken, and in love. The album sold 176,000 copies in the first week of its release, unquestionably debuted to number one on United States Billboard 200.
The single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” quickly became number one in multiple countries, as well as becoming a quadruple planum in the US having 4.8 million copies sold as of June 2016.
Soon after, One Direction went on their first solo tour, Up All Night, in December of 2011. Tickets sold out within minutes of going on sale.
One Direction isn’t your typical boy band with matching outfits and choreography. They were unique and goofy on stage. This is in part what led to their fame; people were intrigued and entertained watching them perform.
In 2013, “This Is Us,” a One Direction documentary and concert film, aired in theaters. It showed the boys’ goofy personalities and families, causing fans to understand and fall in love with them and their music even more than before.
Along with the rise, Liam Payne, a 18 year old at the time of his newfound fame was considered by his ex bandmate Louis Tomlinson, “The most vital part of One Direction,” in his recent Instagram post acknowledging and giving condolences about his death. Payne had a talent for him when it came to singing and songwriting.
Post One Direction’s break up in 2017, Payne debuted his first solo project, “Strip That Down,” which featured Quavo. The song was wildly successful and as of October 2024 has sold 11.5 million copies.
Liam Payne’s solo career has been serene, he has still held a high social media presence and interacted with fans via Instagram, Snapchat, and Tiktok.
In 2017, Liam welcomed his son Bear with his ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole. Continuing to release music in the following years of 2019 and 2020 through 2024. Creating music that wasn’t nearly as successful as “Strip That Down” or to any level of One Direction.
Liam Payne was recently seen at his ex bandmate Niall Horan’s show in Argentina, just 2 weeks before his tragic death in Buenos Aires.
Fans have been devastated; active fan Annie Pearson says “He’s around my age, so it really made me think about my own mortality.” Pearson has been an avid fan of Payne and One Direction over the years. “Liam’s death was also the death of a lot of other things. A band with so much promise, four brothers, his own family, his child, his life, and also the end of a lot of people’s childhood or passion or fandom.”
Though the heartbreak is complex, we can remember Liam as nothing short of a supportive and headstrong father, son, and brother.
