Liam Payne’s highs and lows after shock death at 31: From his X Factor rise to fame to his conflicts with One Direction bandmates

Liam Payne died in Buenos Aires on Wednesday at the age of 31.

The hitmaker reportedly fell from a third floor of a hotel in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires, according to TMZ. Investigations into his death are still ongoing. 

The English star rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction, alongside his former bandmates Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson.

He made his debut as a singer on the British television series The X Factor, when he was 14.

As Hollywood mourns the musician, DailyMail.com takes a look back at the highs and lows of his life and career.

The X Factor (2008) 

Payne had his first audition for the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008, when he was just 14 years old.

The audition was held in front of judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh.

He advanced past the first round of X Factor after impressing the judges with his rendition of Frank Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon.’

Though he was initially eliminated at the Boot Camp stage, Cowell brought Payne back for the judges’ houses stage. He was cut again during judges’ houses but was encouraged by Cowell to return in two years.

The singer returned to the show in 2010, auditioning in front of Cowell, Cole, Walsh and guest judge Natalie Imbruglia.

Following a suggestion from former judge Nicole Scherzinger, he was put together with Horan, Malik, Styles and Tomlinson to form a boy band.

The fan reaction was instant too, with 1D hysteria soon dwarfing the show. Despite the adoration, the band ultimately finished in third place on the X Factor.

Cowell later admitted to Rolling Stone that it took him ‘about a millionth of a second’ to spot the group’s worldwide potential. 

After the X Factor, One Direction were signed to Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment.

One Direction (2010 – 2016) 

One Direction’s debut single, What Makes You Beautiful, was released September 2011 and reached number one in several countries.  

It was followed by their debut album, Up All Night, making One Direction the first UK group to have their debut album reach number one in the United States. 

The group released ‘Live While We’re Young’, the lead single from their second album in September 2012. It became an instant global success.

By November 2012, they released their second album, Take Me Home, which reached number one in over 35 countries.

The group’s third album, Midnight Memories, was released in November 2013. It became the best-selling album worldwide that year, with 4 million copies sold globally.

The group’s third headline tour, the Where We Are Tour, grossed over $290 million, setting a new record as the highest-grossing tour of all time by a vocal group. 

The group released their fourth album, Four, in 2014. It was the last album that included Gigi Hadid’s ex Zayn. 

Following the release of their fifth album, Made in the A.M., in November 2015, the group went on an indefinite break. 

Payne was a key songwriter in One Direction, contributing to more than half of the songs on the band’s third and fourth albums. 

After Malik announced his departure from the band in 2015,  Payne had to take over the majority of his vocals.

In a 2015 interview with GQ, Liam said Zayn didn’t even say goodbye when he left the band in 2015.

‘I think with Zayn’s particular exit and the way he chose to go, we haven’t really heard from him since he left.’

‘He didn’t even say goodbye, if I am being honest. It was a really sordid scenario, from our side certainly. A bit strange. It’s difficult.’

Eventually, the band went their separate ways.

During their time as a band, One Direction won five Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, amassed over three billion YouTube views and sold 50 million records worldwide.

Solo Career (2016 – 2021) 

After releasing five albums with one of the biggest boybands of all time, Liam released his first — and only — solo album titled LP1 in 2019.

His singles Strip That Down co-written with Ed Sheeran climbed its way to number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year.

Payne announced he was working on his second album in May 2023.

He had planned his first solo tour of Latin America for September 2023. But he had to postpone the tour due to a kidney infection that landed him in the hospital in August 2023.

Liam calls Zayn a ‘d**k’ (2022)

In 2022 Liam called Zayn a ‘d*ck’ in a controversial interview on Logan Paul’s podcast.

During the interview he mocked Zayn’s altercation with Yolanda Hadid and claimed to have outsold former bandmates.

He and the host discussed Malik’s headline-making online feud with Logan’s brother Jake Paul in 2020, which ended with Zayn’s then-girlfriend Gigi slamming Jake as ‘irrelevant’ and defending her beau as ‘a respectful king’.

Liam gave his thoughts on the drama, saying: ‘She tweeted something about get yourself a respectful man or something. That one didn’t age very well.’

The comment has been interpreted by fans as a reference to the allegation that Gigi’s mother Yolanda Hadid made last year, that Zayn had shoved her into a dresser and called her a ‘f***ing Dutch slut’.

Liam continued to talk about Zayn, saying there were ‘many reasons why I dislike Zayn’ but that he will ‘always be on his side’ because of Zayn’s alleged tough upbringing. 

He said: ‘There’s many reasons why I dislike Zayn and there’s many reasons why I’ll always, always be on his side.

‘If I had had to go through what he went through, through his growth and whatever else. You know are your parents very supportive?

‘My parents are overly supportive to the point where it’s annoying at times and they don’t even mind me saying that. And Zayn had a different upbringing in that sense.’

He continued: ‘You can always look at the man for where he is and say, “Oh, yeah, whatever that guy’s a d*ck.” Right? But at the end of the day, once you understand what he’s been through to get to that point, and also whether or not he even wanted to be there…’

‘I’m so misunderstood by myself more than anyone, like I don’t know what I’m doing or why I’m here. It’s like, I can’t sit here and d*ck on him because of whatever.’

Following backlash to the interview, he insisted Zayn is his ‘brother’ and that he failed to articulate himself properly.

Liam said: ‘Guys – I wouldn’t normally comment on this stuff but when its your family it’s hard to let it slide.’

‘They mentioned a specific incident involving Zayn which I responded to – but listening back maybe I didn’t articulate myself as well as I could have.’

‘I was saying that there will always be things we disagree on but that I will always, always be on his side. That’s family. Zayn is my brother and I will stand by him forever.’

Heartbreaking reunion with Niall days before his death (2024)

Despite going through ups and downs with some of his bandmates, Liam reunited with Niall just days before he was found dead.

A heartbreaking video shows Liam singing and dancing at his former bandmate’s concert in Argentina.

He seemed to be in high spirits as he wrapped his arm around girlfriend Kate Cassidy’s shoulder and tenderly kissed her on the head.

He waves his arm from side to side and sings along as Kate lovingly rests her head on his shoulder.

Liam jetted off to South America where Niall was on tour as he told fans he ‘would like to square up a couple of things’ with his former bandmate.

But just days after attending the concert in Buenos Aires, Payne was found dead after reportedly falling from his room at the CasaSur Palmero Hotel.

Earlier this month Liam announced he and Kate were flying to Argentina ‘One, because we want to. Two, because we want to. And three, because Niall Horan’s playing down there and I think we might just go and say “hello”.’