Liam Payne, an English singer who rose to fame as a member of the English boy group One Direction, was found deceased on Oct. 16 in the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel, a hotel in the trendy Palermo neighborhood in Argentina.
According to the hotel staff, a loud thud was heard in the courtyard, which had alerted them and the local police, who arrived minutes later. Payne was pronounced dead at the scene, with the emergency services saying there had been “no possibility of resuscitation.” Sources say Payne had alcohol and multiple drugs in his system at the time of death. It was said that Payne had been staying at the hotel for two to three days, visiting his former One Direction bandmate, Niall Horan, during his stay in Argentina.
Horan was in Argentina for a tour and Payne, along with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, attended Horan’s concert at the Movistar Arena on Oct. 2.
In an interview with some fans of One Direction, they shared their stories of how Payne and One Direction impacted them as they grew up.
“I grew up a huge One Direction fan,” Mak Barnes (11) said. “That being said, I knew a lot about Liam. From X-Factor all the way to when he released LP1, I always made sure I was caught up with the music he was working on. I specifically remember when LP1 came out, because he was the fourth 1D member to release solo music, so to me it was a really big deal.”
Fans were all shocked or in disbelief over the news of Payne’s passing.
“When I originally saw the news it was through some peoples stories and then I went and checked if it was true and saw posts on Instagram,” Alexa Kiepe (11) said. “I definitely was shocked and in denial. I didn’t want to believe it at all because there are always rumors that celebrities have died and they are actually fine, but I did have a bad feeling about this.”
Payne and One Direction made an direct impact on their lives growing up and even the friends they made along the way.
“Liam, or One Direction, was obviously a part of my childhood,” Loukya Vaka (11) said. “I had listened to ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ over and over, of course. However, the group didn’t really become a notable part of my life until I was older. Since the first time I was introduced to One Direction to now, the band has been something that connects me to some of my very close friends.”
Payne and One Direction also had a huge impact on Rathi Thiagarajan (11).
“They kept me company through their music when I was alone, and growing into a proper teenage mindset,” Thiagarajan said. “The stigma against boy bands, pop music, and fangirls is very potent and real. Anyone who’s ever been a fan of One Direction can confirm that. Yet, at one point, you learn not to care. And learning that allows you to connect with so many people. For me, on a personal level, a shared love of One Direction brought me so much closer to my sister. On top of that, a lot of my already close friendships were strengthened by a shared love of the same music, and one of my first conversations with my best friend was about One Direction.”
Payne’s presence on stage and in real life brought together so many people.
Payne may have not made the best choices outside of his life on stage in the later years of his career, but he, along with One Direction, will forever be ingrained into every Gen Z’s younger years, creating everlasting memories.
