Years before Liam Payne’s untimely demise at the age of 31, the singer had openly discussed his experiences with One Direction on Jessie Ware’s podcast “Table Manners” in 2019. Payne revealed that the boy band, formed during “The X Factor,” faced a chaotic schedule filled with sold-out tours before they even recorded their first album. “There’s no stop button,” he confided to Ware. “You’ve got no control over your life. That’s why I lost complete control of everything.”

Payne, along with Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson, soared to fame in 2010 but parted ways in 2016. The “Strip That Down” artist initially found the split daunting but was relieved when it was over. “I needed to stop. It would’ve killed me,” Payne admitted.

After leaving One Direction, Payne embarked on a solo career, releasing his album “LP1” in 2019 and starting work on a follow-up. However, he struggled to break free from the partying and overworking habits he developed during his time in the band. Payne realized, “You’re either going to end up a crazy child star who dies at whatever age, or you’re going to live life and actually get on with it.” He recalled a therapy session where the therapist asked, “What do you like to do?” Payne didn’t know the answer.

This wasn’t the first time Payne had spoken about his struggles during his boy band years. In 2019, he told Men’s Health Australia, “It’s difficult when you have the level of fame that we had in the band.” He noted that many in the industry struggle with mental health without adequate support. Payne described his life on stage and in public as “putting the Disney costume on,” often turning to alcohol to cope with the pressures.

In a 2021 interview with Stephen Bartlett on the “Diary Of The CEO Podcast,” Payne shared, “I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where’s rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it.” He confessed that he hadn’t yet hit his rock bottom and was unsure if he ever would.

Payne also suffered from social anxiety and stress due to his fame, feeling trapped by his public persona. He compared his situation to being locked in a room with a mini-bar, leading to years of excessive drinking. “So I had a party-for-one that seemed to carry on for many years of my life, and then you look back at how long you’ve been drinking? And Jesus Christ that’s a long time, even for someone as young as I am,” he said.

Tensions between the band members were not uncommon. Payne’s ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, claimed that Malik was the One Direction member who allegedly “threw” Payne “up a wall” during a backstage altercation. In a TikTok video, Henry confirmed Payne’s account, stating, “He told me it was Zayn, so.”

In May 2022, Payne revealed on Logan Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast that he had a physical altercation with a fellow band member. “There was one moment where there was an argument backstage and one member in particular threw me up a wall,” he said, without naming the bandmate. “So I said to him, ‘If you don’t remove those hands, there’s a high likelihood you’ll never use them again.’”

Payne tragically fell to his death from the third floor of his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Medical officials confirmed he suffered a cranial fracture and severe injuries leading to his immediate death. Witnesses reported Payne was acting erratically before his passing, smashing his laptop in the hotel lobby and being carried back to his room before the fall.

Payne had traveled to Argentina to see his former bandmate Horan in concert. At the time of his death, he was dating influencer Kate Cassidy and shared a son, Bear, with ex Cheryl Cole. The couple met when she was a judge on his season of “The X Factor.”