Liam Payne deserved our admiration. It shouldn’t have ended like this

Liam Payne had a fine voice and was a key component of One Direction's sound
Liam Payne had a fine voice and was a key component of One Direction’s sound - PA

The death of a young star is always a shocking tragedy, the kind of loss that reverberates loudly in pop culture. Liam Payne’s death at 31 is going to hit a lot of people very hard indeed.

As a member of One Direction, he was a huge character in one of the great musical stories of our times. They were the biggest, most beloved boy band of their era, bringing lively humour, distinct character and oodles of charm to their roles as 21st century pop pin-ups, delivering a raft of supremely well-crafted hits that have embedded themselves in the soundtrack of the times.

Liam was a crucial component of that sound – as they all were. The strength of 1D as a unit conveyed a potent sense of friendship and togetherness, operating as allies who had each other’s best interests at heart. Perhaps Liam wasn’t the standout star (that would have been cheeky, handsome Harry Styles, as reflected in his stratospheric solo success), nor the finest of their vocalists (that honour probably went to the sultry RnB tones of Zayn Malik) but he had a fine voice, capable of rising to a strong falsetto that was prominent in most 1D songs, and could handle his harmonies with aplomb. Along with Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson. Liam was increasingly keen to be involved in creating the music 1D made. By the time of the band’s third and fourth albums, he was credited as a songwriter on over half the tracks.

Born and raised in Wolverhampton, Liam was just 14 when he first auditioned for Simon Cowell’s TV talent show X Factor. Cowell told him to return when he was older. He was all of 16 when he made it through the process, and famously got recruited as part of a nascent boy band ensemble. They actually came third in the series in 2010, but Cowell knew a pop phenomenon when it was staring him in the face and signed them to his label Syco. So began six years of hysteria.

Liam Payne, second right, with his band in 2011
Liam Payne, second right, with his band in 2011 - AP

1D had an image of such freshness, friendship and positivity that even their breakup (or “hiatus”) in 2016 was conducted with fan-friendly amiability. They never fell out (well, apart from perhaps the moody Zayn, who had left in a bit of a huff in 2015). One of the most pleasing things about the afterlife of 1D is how supportive they have publicly been towards each other. Liam recently attended a Niall Horan show in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was hanging out with his old bandmate days before he died. In encounters with any members of 1D over the years (Malik excluded), they always implied an inevitability about getting together again one day. Now, that dream lies in tatters.

Liam’s solo career did not exactly cover him in glory. He was slow to really get going, and never quite found his own style. He had his biggest hit with his first single, in 2017, sexed up RnB pop song Strip That Down performed with American rapper and singer Quavo. It reached No 3 in the UK, and 10 in the US, and has garnered over a billion streams on Spotify. But that was the height of it for Liam. He has scored a few more minor hit singles, but didn’t release his solo debut album until 2019, when 1D heat was cooling. The unimaginatively titled LP1 picked up bad reviews and mediocre sales, only reaching 17 in the UK and not even cracking the American top 100. It was a long way down for a member of a band who had been the most popular on the planet just three years earlier.

With former partner Cheryl Cole in Paris in 2016
With former partner Cheryl Cole in Paris in 2016 - REX

The truth is that there was a sense of identity confusion about Liam’s music. For someone whose love for production came across strongly in interviews, he never seemed to find his own focus, dipping into a rag bag of generic ideas, from lukewarm balladry to undistinguished EDM. He spoke about a follow-up, but didn’t appear to be making much progress towards it.

Perhaps it reflected a certain ambivalence towards pop stardom, stemming from things Liam had long kept hidden. In interviews around his album release, he opened up about problems with substance abuse at odds with the band’s image and claimed he had become an alcoholic at the height of their fame. He even admitted that the pressures of fame got so bad he had sometimes struggled with suicidal thoughts.

Though he expressed irritation at being labelled in some quarters as “the most boring one” in One Direction, he certainly seemed to have a colourful private life. He had a son, Bear, with pop star Cheryl Cole (who is ten years his senior), a brief relationship with supermodel Naomi Campbell (23 years his senior) and a turbulent four year on-and-off engagement with model Maya Henry (eight years his junior). According to reports, Henry sent a cease and desist letter to stop Payne repeatedly trying to contact her just days before his death. He was currently dating influencer Kate Cassidy, 25.

Fans light candles outside the hotel where Payne died
Fans light candles outside the hotel where Payne died - AP

What does any of this tell us? Lives are complex, and pop images command a simplicity not well aligned with human nature. But here we are once again, learning of the death of a young star who admitted struggling with fame. Sometimes you wonder why anyone would put themselves forward for a career that can be so brutally hard on mental health? It is an over familiar story of our times, and it just seems to keep getting worse.

In the public eye at least, there was so much life and spirit about One Direction, it is almost impossible to believe that one of those cheeky boys could be gone so young. We watched them grow up before our eyes, shining on stages all over the world, filling the airwaves with the oxygen of perfect pop. It is going to be very hard for a lot of Payne’s fans to process this news. Many people are going to feel this very deeply.

If you know someone to whom Liam’s life and music resonated, try to be kind. Liam was a pop star deserving of admiration. It really should not have ended like this.