While millions are mourning the death of former One Direction singer Liam Payne, a few of his former collaborators remembered him as a thoughtful and humble individual.
The 31-year-old musician was found dead Wednesday, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires. A 911 call had been placed by a manager at the Casa Sur hotel in the city’s trendy Palermo neighborhood for a guest who was “overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol.” Payne’s death is reportedly under investigation. A media request to the Buenos Aires police was unreturned Thursday.
Payne had addressed his struggles with alcohol and an extended rehab stay in a Louisiana facility, as recently as last year.
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During the boy band’s all-out global run from 2010 to 2016, the band’s five members — Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Payne — rocketed to fame after appearing on the British version of “The X Factor.” (Payne had traveled to Argentina for a performance by Horan earlier this month.)
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Hailed as a modern-day “British Invasion,” the group culled a cult-like following for songs like “Up All Night,” “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Live While You’re Young.” Their appeal was so wide that in 2013 they debuted a women’s fragrance, Our Moment, a wink at one of their debut songs “Moments.”
Unmistakable with their skinny jeans, big hair, groomed brows and pop ballads, their stardom led to collaborations, fashion show invitations and brand ambassadorships. After One Direction split up, Payne embarked on a solo career and worked with French Montana, Rita Ora, J Balvin and Jonas Blue among other musicians. In a 2019 interview with WWD, Payne enthused about both tracks. “They’re both great but for different reasons. If you messed up, you know you have your brothers around you to pick you up. There’s more pressure being solo, but it’s still great,” he said.
Through his brand ambassadorship with Hugo Boss, Payne was photographed by such talents as Tom Craig, and Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Craig said Thursday, “When I worked with Liam, it was a shoot that required both trust and collaboration on his behalf. Not only was he engaged and playful, but [he was] also thoughtful,” Craig said.
“As is often the way in my work, the experience made me wonder how complicated it can be having such fame and attention at such a young age. In his case, I was distinctly left with the feeling that this was a man, who was kind and good at heart, and that stands for so much,” he said. “I, like so many others, am very sorry for such a loss at a time in life when he had so much more to give and to live for.”
Sewbranded’s Scott Woodward recalled Thursday about enlisting One Direction for the 2013 edition of the “Together Against Bullying” campaign that was photographed by Simon Emmett. “It was an extraordinary experience. They were at the height of their fame. They were on their world tour. Quite frankly, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to close that deal, but we did it,” Woodward said. “Liam was particularly lovely. He was grounded, thoughtful, kind and a humble young man.”
Woodward said the musician became his point person in the band for what was a yearlong endeavor that included Home Depot products and sponsorship of their “This Is Us” movie. Recalling shooting anti-bullying PSAs in Dublin, Woodward said, “I’ll never forget it, because the boys slept in their bus in a parking lot the night before. We started at five in the morning, and they rolled off the bus. Then we shot all day in a barn in Ireland.”
Recalling how Payne was “really proud” of the campaign and that each member chose a word for it, Woodward said Payne’s was “#LiveTrue.” Woodward said a Twitter executive reached out to him directly and said the campaign’s launch numbers were an all-time high at that point. The campaign received 5 billion media impressions, according to Woodward. When he was honored with an Emery award and recognized by Hetrick Martin for raising $2 million for anti-bullying efforts, Payne presented it.
“Liam was incredible. He was really proud of the campaign. Each of the boys chose a word and Liam’s was ‘true,’” Woodward said. “Each of the boys had their portrait from the campaign blown up and framed to give to their parents for the holidays.”
Payne appeared in ads and collaborated on a line for the younger-skewed Hugo line and launched a collaborative line for the German brand. The brand had reached out to him, after seeing him wear the collection to a few events. “Fashion started out as a hobby for me, but I’m loving being part of the creative process,” he told WWD before the launch.
The British-born Payne, who aspired and trained to be an Olympic runner until he was 14, was not intimidated about shedding some clothes for the ad campaign. “This is a very body-conscious world. I’ve been training a lot lately, but I’ve always done that, so we’ll see how it goes,” he told WWD in 2019.
When his second collection debuted with Boss, Payne performed a three-song acoustic set with Ora chiming separately on a split screen on Hugo’s Instagram and YouTube channel. That second installment was meant to highlight his journey from teen pop star to a solo artist. It featured a new logo Hugo93.LP — a reference to the year that the musician was born and his only solo album “LP1.” The logo also featured a “go fast” chevron, which was akin to one of Payne’s tattoos.
At that time, Payne spoke of how he’d “learned so much” about his style over the previous two years and how grateful he was to continue to design clothes that he loved to wear. Speaking with another media outlet, Payne addressed another side of fashion. “That’s the one thing about being in this line of work. [Even though] I’m in this whole growing period, there are so many different fashion errors that I’ve made over the years that I just can’t escape.”
Hugo Boss said in a statement, “Hugo Boss is deeply saddened by the passing of Liam Payne. Our thoughts are with Liam’s family, friends, and everyone who was close to him. Liam was an outstanding talent in the field of music, and his presence will be greatly missed.”
Payne is survived by his parents Karen and Jeff, his sisters Ruth and Nicola and his son Bear Grey Payne.