Liam Payne facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Liam Payne
Payne in 2023
Born	Liam James Payne (1993-08-29)29 August 1993 Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England
Died	16 October 2024(2024-10-16) (aged 31) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Occupation	Singer songwriter
Years active	2008–2024
Works	Solo discography One Direction discography
Partner(s)	Cheryl Cole (2016–2018) Maya Henry (2019–2022)
Children	1
Musical career
Genres	Pop R&B
Labels	Capitol
Signature

Liam James Payne (29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024) was an English singer. He was best known as a member of the pop boy band One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. Payne initially auditioned for the British television series The X Factor in 2008, but it was in 2010, after a second audition, that he was placed in a group with four other contestants to form One Direction. The band achieved global success before going on hiatus in 2015.

Following One Direction's hiatus, Payne pursued a solo career, signing with Republic Records in North America. In 2017, he released his debut solo single "Strip That Down", which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart and number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100, and was certified platinum in both countries. His debut studio album, LP1, was released in December 2019. During the first three years of his solo career, Payne sold over 18 million singles, 2.4 million albums, and amassed 3.9 billion streams. In addition to his solo work, Payne produced remixes under the monikers "Big Payno" and "Payno". He collaborated with other artists and remixed tracks for both his group and singer Cheryl.

Payne died on 16 October 2024, after falling from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Early life

Liam James Payne was born on 29 August 1993 at New Cross Hospital in the Heath Town district of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. He was the son of Karen Payne, an infant nurse, and Geoff Payne, a fitter. He had two older sisters, Nicola and Ruth Payne. Payne was born three weeks early, and suffered frequent illnesses. Until the age of four, Payne had regular tests done in hospital as doctors noticed one of his kidneys was scarred and dysfunctional. To help cope with the pain, he had sixteen injections in his arm every morning and another sixteen every evening as a child. As a student, Payne was heavily involved in sports, particularly cross country running. Payne originally joined the Wolverhampton & Bilston Athletics Club to pursue his running career. For three years he was ranked in the top three 1500m runners in the country within his age group.

He took up boxing lessons at the age of 12 amidst bullying from older students in secondary school. Payne completed 11 GCSEs at St Peter's Collegiate School (now St Peter's Collegiate Academy) before moving on to study music technology at City of Wolverhampton College.

Payne was first introduced to the world of show business at age twelve as a member of the Pink Productions Theatre Company, appearing as Tony Manero from Saturday Night Fever. Payne had previously performed in front of a crowd of 26,000 during a Wolverhampton Wanderers football match.

Career

2008–2015: The X Factor and One Direction

Payne first auditioned for the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008, at 14 years old, in front of judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh. Payne moved past the first round after performing Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon". He was subsequently cut at the Boot Camp stage, but Cowell then changed his mind and asked Payne to return for the judges' houses stage. Payne was cut again during judges' houses, but was encouraged by Cowell to "come back in two years".

Payne returned to the show in 2010 for the seventh series, auditioning in front of Cowell, Cole, Walsh and guest judge Natalie Imbruglia. He sang the Michael Bublé version of "Cry Me a River", which earned him four yeses and a standing ovation from Cowell. Payne was considered the second favourite to win the competition following his solo audition. He failed to progress to the "Boys" category at judges' houses, but after a suggestion by guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, Payne, along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik, were put together to form a five-piece boy band at Wembley Arena, during the bootcamp stage of the competition, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category. Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to know each other and to practice. For their qualifying song at Judges' houses, and their first song as a group, they performed an acoustic version of "Torn". Cowell later commented that the performance convinced him that the group "were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well". The group quickly gained popularity in the UK, ultimately coming in third place on the show.

Payne in 2012

Following The X Factor, One Direction were signed to Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment. A book licensed by One Direction, One Direction: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story), was released in February 2011 and topped The Sunday Times' Best Seller list. Their debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful", was released in September 2011, and was a commercial and international success, reaching number one in several countries. Their debut album, Up All Night, was released in Ireland and the UK of November of that same year, charting at number one and number two, respectively. The album was released worldwide in March 2012, and One Direction became the first UK group to have their debut album reach number one in the United States.

Following the release of the album, the group headlined the Up All Night Tour. Originally intended with shows taking place only in the UK and Ireland, Australian and North American legs of the tour were added due to demand. A commercial success, tickets for the tour sold out in minutes and garnered positive reviews from critics who applauded the band's singing abilities and stage presence. The band released Up All Night: The Live Tour, a video album documenting the tour, in May 2012. That same month, One Direction's first book to be licensed in America, Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction, was published and topped The New York Times Best Seller list.

In September 2012, "Live While We're Young", the lead single from the group's second album, was released, and was a global success. Another single, "Little Things", spawned the band's second number one single in the UK. In November 2012, the group released their second album, Take Me Home, and it reached number one in over 35 countries. Reaching number one on the Billboard 200, the group became the first boy band in U.S. chart history to record two number-one albums in the same calendar year alongside becoming the first group since 2008 to record two number-one albums in the same year. Following the release of the album, the group embarked on their second headlining concert tour, the Take Me Home Tour. Performing 123 shows in North America, Asia, Oceania, and Europe, grossing $114 million. During the tour, One Direction covered Wheatus's "Teenage Dirtbag". In the original song lead vocalist Brendan Brown performs a segment in a "female voice" which, in One Direction's rendition of the song Payne covered in falsetto. This garnered praise from Brown, who commented, "You can do my girl part anytime". In August 2013, One Direction: This Is Us, a 3-D documentary concert film was released, accumulating a box office gross of $68.5 million. One Direction's third book, One Direction: Where We Are: Our Band, Our Story: 100% Official, was released that same month.

Payne in 2013

The group's third album, Midnight Memories, was released in November of that same year. It was the best-selling album worldwide in 2013 with 4 million copies sold globally. The album's lead single, "Best Song Ever", is their highest-charting single in the US to date. The group embarked on their third headline tour, the Where We Are Tour. Tickets sold out in minutes, and more shows were added due to "overwhelming demand". The tour was their first all-stadium tour, averaging 49,848 fans per show. In total, the tour grossed over $290 million and was the highest-grossing tour of 2014, the 15th highest-grossing concert tour of all time, and is still the highest-grossing tour of all time by a vocal group. The tour was attended by 3.4 million fans.

In September 2014, One Direction's fourth book, One Direction: Who We Are: Our Official Autobiography was released. The group's second concert film, One Direction: Where We Are – The Concert Film, was released in October 2014, showing footage of the band's shows at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy. In November 2014, the group's fourth album, Four, was released, making it the last album to include Zayn Malik. Singles "Steal My Girl" and "Night Changes" were released, both achieving platinum status in the U.S among other countries. The album debuted number one in 18 countries, selling 3.2 million copies. One Direction became the only group in the 58-year history of the Billboard 200 albums chart to have their first four albums debut at number one. The group embarked on their fourth headlining world tour, the On the Road Again Tour, grossing $208 million and selling 2.3 million tickets. In November 2015, One Direction's fifth album, Made in the A.M., was released. Singles "Drag Me Down" and "Perfect" both debuted at number one in various countries, and the album reached number one in the UK and number two on the US Billboard 200. Following the release of the album, the group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.

Following the departure of former member Zayn Malik, Payne was tasked with taking over the bulk of Malik's vocals. Payne was known as one of the principal songwriters in One Direction, credited for co-writing more than half of the songs on the band's third and fourth album. Together with Louis Tomlinson, Payne was also One Direction's top earner.

2016–2021: Initial solo projects and LP1

Payne began working as a producer under the monikers "Big Payno" or "Payno", teaming up with fellow producers AfterHrs to remix several tracks including Cheryl Cole's "I Don't Care" in 2014. Some EDM websites noted Payne's remixes were venturing into future house. Payne was also credited with writing Cole's "I Won't Break", off her album Only Human.

In August 2014, Payne created and became director of Hampton Music Limited, a publishing company under which his solo projects appeared. Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer is signed to One Mode Productions Limited, on which Payne served as one of the directors.

Payne began working on future projects collaborating with Juicy J on seven tracks with more in the works, DJ Mustard, and Miguel. He has also been in the studio with producer and performing artist Pharrell Williams. Payne also contacted The Collective member and YouTube musician and producer Will Singe.

In 2015, Payne collaborated with songwriter Jamie Scott on Irish band Hometown's single "The Night We Met". In early 2016, Payne featured on a track titled "You" by Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J. Payne denied that the track was a single, but it was confirmed to be a leak from an untitled, unreleased mixtape.

Payne in October 2018

In October 2016, it was announced that Payne had signed a recording contract with Republic Records. His debut solo single "Strip That Down", featuring Quavo and co-written with Ed Sheeran and Steve Mac, was released on 19 May 2017, and sent to US contemporary hit radio on 23 May. The song was a commercial success, reaching number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the UK Singles Chart. Payne later released the single "Bedroom Floor" and a collaboration with Zedd, "Get Low". Regarding his forthcoming debut album, Payne stated:

It's very eclectic. It's more like my playlist album; my favorite playlist of songs that I have made over the past year. So, some slow jams, there's a couple of dance songs on there, with some R&B stuff. So there's a lot – it's a lot of different stuff.

In January 2018, Payne and Rita Ora released the single "For You" from the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Freed. In April 2018, Payne released "Familiar" with J Balvin. He announced his debut album would be released on 14 September 2018.

On 30 March 2018, Payne performed in front of more than 100,000 people during a free concert at Global Village 2018 in Dubai. He released his first extended play, First Time, which features a collaboration with French Montana of the same name, on 24 August 2018. Prior to the EP's release, Payne announced that he was putting off his album to make some adjustments to it. He contributed vocals on Jonas Blue's song "Polaroid", along with Lennon Stella, released on 5 October 2018.

Payne released the song "Stack It Up", featuring American rapper A Boogie wit da Hoodie, on 18 September 2019. After its release, Payne revealed that his album was "finished" and would more likely be released in 2020, although in October, the album, LP1, was confirmed for a 6 December 2019 release date. He released "All I Want (For Christmas)" on 25 October as the first track from the album. It was released to mixed to negative reviews, and debuted at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart and number 111 on the Billboard 200. In April 2020, Payne collaborated with Alesso and released the song "Midnight" to positive reviews. That same month, Payne began a weekly YouTube series. In July, he announced he would be launching The LP Show, a livestream series, with "Act 1" being a livestreamed concert. On 30 October 2020, Payne released "Naughty List", a Christmas single featuring Dixie D'Amelio. In August 2021, Payne released the single "Sunshine", which was featured in the film Ron's Gone Wrong.

2023–2024: Planned second studio album

In May 2023, Payne revealed he was working on his second album, which he claimed to have more creative control over than he did his debut album. He scheduled his first solo tour dates for Latin America to take place in September 2023. He postponed the tour after he was hospitalised in August 2023 with a kidney infection. Payne returned to music with the single "Teardrops", which was released on 1 March 2024. The single was co-written with NSYNC member JC Chasez.

Artistry

Payne was a pop and R&B singer who explored other genres such as electronic music.

Payne cited Chris Brown, Pharrell Williams, Justin Timberlake, and Usher as major musical influences. "The person who has inspired me most is Pharrell Williams who I worked with a while back. I got talking to his producer recently and asked him what Pharrell was like when he was younger, and he said to me that when he was my age he couldn't press a note on a keyboard. And that was amazing to me because at 22 I thought I was too old to learn guitar," revealed Payne. Payne's first exposure to rock music was through Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory with "In the End" as they were the gateway for him to listen to other types of music outside of what he would typically listen to as a child. Payne would label "In the End" as one of the most important songs of his life.

Other ventures

Endorsements

Payne was named the first global brand ambassador for German brand Hugo Boss in May 2019. The first Hugo x Liam Payne capsule collection was revealed during Berlin Fashion Week in July 2020. His second capsule collection with Hugo Boss was launched in May 2020. The collection, which mainly consists of men's wardrobes, includes polo shirts, T-shirts, shorts, hoodies, sweatpants and a pair of sneakers. In January 2020, Payne starred in the Hugo Boss fragrance campaign for their perfume Hugo Now.

Investment

In June 2021, Payne launched his non-fungible token digital artwork collection, entitled "Lonely Bug". On 25 January 2022, he dedicated a separate Twitter account @PaynoETH solely to discuss the subject.

Philanthropy

Payne at a charity football match in 2014

As a member of One Direction, Payne supported Comic Relief, and an initiative titled Action 1D "to help better the future".

Payne was an avid supporter of UNICEF and teamed up with tennis star Andy Murray, Jack Whitehall and Clare Balding in support of UNICEF UK's Children in Danger Summer Disease Appeal. Payne teamed up with motorsport star Eddie Jordan in support of UK based charity CLIC Sargent. Payne was an ambassador for the charitable organisation Trekstock. Payne's original campaign with the organisation in 2013 raised $784,198. He raised an additional $211,237 during his campaign in 2015. Payne was also named an ambassador of Sustainable Development Goals also known as the Global Goals campaign. In 2015, Payne helped to promote a £6 million youth project "The Youth Zone" in his hometown of Wolverhampton.

In May 2020, Payne expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement and encouraged fans to educate themselves and donate. He attended London Black Lives Matter protests.

Payne participated in Soccer Aid 2022, where he captained the English team, returning in the 2023 edition.

Personal life

From 2010 to late 2012, Payne dated then-X Factor dancer Danielle Peazer. From 2013 to 2015, he was in a relationship with childhood friend, Sophia Smith. In 2016, he started dating Cheryl Cole; they had one son who was born on 22 March 2017. Their relationship ended in 2018. In early 2019, he dated British model and actress Naomi Campbell.

Payne began dating model Maya Henry in 2019; they became engaged in August 2020. By June 2021, Payne and Henry had separated. The couple reunited that year and became engaged again. In May 2022, the couple ended their engagement for the second time. Since October 2022, he had been in a relationship with influencer Kate Cassidy.

Payne's net worth was estimated at £47 million in 2020. Payne previously owned homes in Malibu, California, and Surrey, but listed them both for sale in early 2020 and 2021, respectively. From 2022 until his death, he resided in Buckinghamshire.

Payne was a supporter of the football team West Bromwich Albion.

Death

On 16 October 2024, Payne died instantly after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur hotel in the Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the age of 31. His death was confirmed at 5:11 p.m. Argentina Time (ART).

Discography

Studio albums

• LP1 (2019)

Filmography

Awards and nominations