On Wednesday 16 October, former One Direction star, Liam Payne died having fallen from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Payne rose to fame after competing on the ITV reality show The X Factor. He and his One Direction bandmates—Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik, finished in third in the competition.
One Direction was the world’s best-selling band between 2010 and 2016.
The Student, asked University of Edinburgh students how they reacted to the news of Payne death.
One student said: “I was woken up by my flatmates screaming”.
“When you’re a massive fan of someone, you consume a lot of their content – they take up a
lot of your life.”
“I used to watch hours of One Direction videos after school every day.”
“He feels like someone I knew in the past – like a childhood friend.”
According to the Daily Mail, in the months before his death, ex-fiancé Maya Henry had made allegations of abuse against Payne and issued him with a cease and desist letter due to his “obsessive contact”.
When asked, Students commented on the difference in treatment Payne received after his death.
“It’s quite interesting how the media have reacted, because it’s such a switch up”.
“They have gone from major cancelled vibes to major hero vibes”.
Payne had been open with his addiction struggles in the years leading up to his death.
Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast in 2021, Payne talked about how he had struggled with “severe suicidal thoughts” as well as heavy drug and alcohol abuse while he was touring with One Direction.
An autopsy has revealed that Payne had drugs in his system when he died.
Despite his mental health struggles, Payne remained active on social media, sharing his last post with fans just hours before his death.
“The news completely shocked me”, another student commented.
“It’s so sad. I loved him so much and now he’s dead.”