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 Maya Henry
Children	1
Musical career
Genres	Pop R&B
Labels	Capitol
Signature

Liam James Payne (born August 29, 1993 – died October 16, 2024) was an English singer. He became famous as a member of the pop boy band One Direction. This group was one of the best-selling boy bands ever.

Liam first tried out for the British TV show The X Factor in 2008. He tried again in 2010. This time, he was put into a group with four other singers. This group became One Direction. The band became very successful around the world before they took a break in 2015.

After One Direction went on hiatus, Liam started his solo music career. He signed with Republic Records in North America. In 2017, he released his first solo song, "Strip That Down". This song was a big hit, reaching number three in the UK and number ten in the US. It sold millions of copies. His first solo album, LP1, came out in December 2019. In his first three years as a solo artist, Liam sold many singles and albums. He also had billions of streams of his music online. Besides his solo work, Liam also made remixes of songs. He used the names "Big Payno" and "Payno" for these. He worked with other artists and remixed songs for One Direction and singer Cheryl.

Liam Payne passed away on October 16, 2024. He died after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Early Life and Education

Liam James Payne was born on August 29, 1993. He was born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. His mother, Karen Payne, was a nurse, and his father, Geoff Payne, was a fitter. He had two older sisters, Nicola and Ruth. Liam was born three weeks early and was often sick as a baby. Until he was four, doctors checked him regularly because one of his kidneys was not working well. To help with the pain, he had many injections every morning and evening when he was a child.

As a student, Liam loved sports, especially running. He joined the Wolverhampton & Bilston Athletics Club to focus on running. For three years, he was one of the top three 1500-meter runners in his age group in the country.

When he was 12, Liam started boxing lessons. He did this because older students were bullying him at secondary school. Liam finished 11 GCSE exams at St Peter's Collegiate School. After that, he studied music technology at City of Wolverhampton College.

Liam first got involved in performing when he was 12. He was part of the Pink Productions Theatre Company. He played Tony Manero from Saturday Night Fever. Before this, Liam had performed for a crowd of 26,000 people at a Wolverhampton Wanderers football match.

Music Career

Becoming a Star with One Direction (2008–2015)

Liam first auditioned for The X Factor in 2008. He was 14 years old. He sang "Fly Me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra and moved to the next round. However, he was sent home during the "Boot Camp" stage. One of the judges, Simon Cowell, later changed his mind. He asked Liam to come back for the "judges' houses" stage. Liam was cut again but Cowell told him to "come back in two years."

Liam returned to The X Factor in 2010. He sang "Cry Me a River" and got four "yes" votes from the judges. He was a favorite to win the show as a solo artist. However, he did not make it to the "Boys" category. Then, a guest judge suggested putting Liam with four other contestants. These were Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik. They formed a five-person boy band at Wembley Arena. This group became One Direction. They practiced together for two weeks. For their first song as a group, they sang an acoustic version of "Torn". Simon Cowell was impressed by their performance. The group quickly became popular in the UK and finished third on the show.

Payne in 2012

After The X Factor, One Direction signed with Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment. Their first book, One Direction: Forever Young, came out in February 2011. It became a best-seller. Their first song, "What Makes You Beautiful", was released in September 2011. It was a huge success around the world, reaching number one in many countries. Their first album, Up All Night, was released in November 2011. It reached number one in Ireland and number two in the UK. When the album was released worldwide in March 2012, One Direction made history. They were the first UK group to have their first album reach number one in the United States.

After the album, the group went on their first tour, the Up All Night Tour. Tickets sold out very quickly. Critics praised the band's singing and stage presence. They released a video album of the tour in May 2012. That same month, their second book, Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction, also became a best-seller in America.

In September 2012, "Live While We're Young" was released. This was the first song from their second album and was a global hit. Another song, "Little Things", became their second number one song in the UK. In November 2012, the group released their second album, Take Me Home. It reached number one in over 35 countries. It also reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. One Direction became the first boy band in US chart history to have two number-one albums in the same year.

After the album, the group went on their second tour, the Take Me Home Tour. They performed 123 shows around the world and earned a lot of money. During this tour, One Direction sang a cover of "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus. Liam sang a high-pitched part in the song, which the original singer praised. In August 2013, a 3D movie about the band, One Direction: This Is Us, was released. It earned over $68 million. One Direction's third book, One Direction: Where We Are, was released that same month.

Payne in 2013

The group's third album, Midnight Memories, came out in November 2013. It was the best-selling album worldwide in 2013, selling 4 million copies. The first song from the album, "Best Song Ever", was their highest-charting song in the US. The group then went on their third tour, the Where We Are Tour. Tickets sold out in minutes, and more shows were added. This was their first tour playing in stadiums. The tour earned over $290 million and was the highest-grossing tour of 2014. It is still the highest-grossing tour by a vocal group ever. Over 3.4 million fans attended the tour.

In September 2014, One Direction's fourth book, One Direction: Who We Are, was released. The group's second concert film, One Direction: Where We Are – The Concert Film, came out in October 2014. It showed footage from their shows in Milan, Italy. In November 2014, the group's fourth album, Four, was released. This was the last album to include Zayn Malik. Songs like "Steal My Girl" and "Night Changes" became very popular. The album debuted at number one in 18 countries. One Direction became the only group in the 58-year history of the Billboard Hot 200 chart to have their first four albums debut at number one. The group went on their fourth world tour, the On the Road Again Tour. It earned $208 million and sold 2.3 million tickets. In November 2015, One Direction's fifth album, Made in the A.M., was released. Songs like "Drag Me Down" and "Perfect" debuted at number one in many countries. The album reached number one in the UK and number two in the US. After this album, the group went on an indefinite break in 2016.

After Zayn Malik left the group, Liam took over many of his singing parts. Liam was also known as one of the main songwriters in One Direction. He helped write more than half of the songs on the band's third and fourth albums. Liam and Louis Tomlinson were also the top earners in One Direction.

Solo Career and LP1 (2016–2021)

Liam started working as a music producer. He used the names "Big Payno" or "Payno". He worked with other producers to remix songs, including Cheryl Cole's "I Don't Care" in 2014. Some music websites noted that Liam's remixes were exploring a new style called "future house." Liam also helped write Cheryl's song "I Won't Break."

In August 2014, Liam created his own music publishing company, Hampton Music Limited. His solo projects were released under this company. The Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer is signed to One Mode Productions Limited, where Liam was one of the directors.

Liam started working on new music with other artists. He collaborated with Juicy J, DJ Mustard, and Miguel. He also worked in the studio with famous producer Pharrell Williams. Liam also contacted Will Singe, a musician from YouTube.

In 2015, Liam worked with songwriter Jamie Scott on the Irish band Hometown's song "The Night We Met". In early 2016, Liam was featured on a song called "You" by Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J. Liam said it was not a single, but it was a leaked song from an unreleased album.

Payne in October 2018

In October 2016, Liam signed a recording contract with Republic Records. His first solo song, "Strip That Down", was released on May 19, 2017. It featured Quavo and was co-written with Ed Sheeran. The song was a big success, reaching number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the UK Singles Chart. Liam later released the song "Bedroom Floor" and a collaboration with Zedd called "Get Low". About his first album, Liam said:

It's very varied. It's like my favorite playlist of songs I've made. So, there are some slow songs, some dance songs, and some R&B music. There's a lot of different stuff.

In January 2018, Liam and Rita Ora released the song "For You". This song was from the movie Fifty Shades Freed. In April 2018, Liam released "Familiar" with J Balvin. He announced his first album would be released on September 14, 2018.

On March 30, 2018, Liam performed for over 100,000 people at a free concert in Dubai. He released his first short album, First Time, on August 24, 2018. This album included a song with French Montana also called "First Time". Before the EP came out, Liam said he was delaying his album to make some changes. He sang on Jonas Blue's song "Polaroid" with Lennon Stella, released on October 5, 2018.

Liam released the song "Stack It Up" with American rapper A Boogie wit da Hoodie on September 18, 2019. After this, Liam said his album was "finished" and would likely be released in 2020. However, in October, the album, LP1, was confirmed for a December 6, 2019, release date. He released "All I Want (For Christmas)" on October 25 as the first song from the album. The album received mixed reviews and reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart. In April 2020, Liam worked with Alesso and released the song "Midnight", which received positive reviews. That same month, Liam started a weekly YouTube series. In July, he announced "The LP Show", a series of live online concerts. On October 30, 2020, Liam released "Naughty List", a Christmas song featuring Dixie D'Amelio. In August 2021, Liam released the song "Sunshine", which was featured in the movie Ron's Gone Wrong.

Later Music and Planned Album (2023–2024)

In May 2023, Liam shared that he was working on his second album. He said he had more creative control over this album than his first one. He planned his first solo tour dates for Latin America in September 2023. However, he had to postpone the tour. This was because he was hospitalized in August 2023 with a kidney infection. Liam returned to music with the song "Teardrops", which was released on March 1, 2024. This song was co-written with NSYNC member JC Chasez.

Musical Style

Liam Payne was known as a pop and R&B singer. He also explored other music styles like electronic music.

Liam said that Chris Brown, Pharrell Williams, Justin Timberlake, and Usher were big musical influences for him. He said, "The person who has inspired me most is Pharrell Williams." Liam's first experience with rock music was through Linkin Park's album Hybrid Theory. He especially liked "In the End". This song helped him listen to different types of music beyond what he usually heard as a child. Liam called "In the End" one of the most important songs in his life.

Other Activities

Brand Partnerships

Liam Payne became the first global brand ambassador for the German brand Hugo Boss in May 2019. The first Hugo x Liam Payne clothing collection was shown during Berlin Fashion Week in July 2020. His second collection with Hugo Boss was launched in May 2020. This collection mainly included men's clothes like polo shirts, T-shirts, shorts, hoodies, sweatpants, and sneakers. In January 2020, Liam was also featured in the Hugo Boss perfume campaign for their fragrance Hugo Now.

Investments

In June 2021, Liam launched his non-fungible token (NFT) digital artwork collection, called "Lonely Bug". On January 25, 2022, he created a special Twitter account, @PaynoETH, just to talk about NFTs.

Helping Others (Philanthropy)

As a member of One Direction, Liam Payne supported Comic Relief. He also supported an effort called Action 1D to "help better the future."

Liam was a strong supporter of UNICEF. He worked with tennis star Andy Murray, Jack Whitehall, and Clare Balding to support UNICEF UK's Children in Danger Summer Disease Appeal. Liam also teamed up with motorsport star Eddie Jordan to support the UK charity CLIC Sargent. Liam was an ambassador for the charity Trekstock. His first campaign with them in 2013 raised over $784,000. He raised another $211,000 during his campaign in 2015. Liam was also named an ambassador for the Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals campaign. In 2015, Liam helped promote a £6 million youth project called "The Youth Zone" in his hometown of Wolverhampton.

In May 2020, Liam supported the Black Lives Matter movement. He encouraged fans to learn more and donate. He also attended Black Lives Matter protests in London.

Liam played in Soccer Aid in 2022, where he was the captain of the English team. He returned to play in the 2023 event as well.

Personal Life

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

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

Liam Payne's wealth was estimated at £47 million in 2020. He used to own homes in Malibu, California, and Surrey. He listed both of them for sale in 2020 and 2021. From 2022 until his death, he lived in Buckinghamshire.

Liam was a fan of the football team West Bromwich Albion.

Death

On October 16, 2024, Liam Payne died instantly. He fell from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur hotel in Palermo, a neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31 years old. His death was confirmed at 5:11 p.m. Argentina Time.

Music Albums

Studio albums

• LP1 (2019)

Film and TV Appearances

Awards and Nominations

Images for kids

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  Liam at a charity football match in 2014

See also

In Spanish: Liam Payne para niños