Liam James Payne (born 29 August 1993) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Payne made his debut as a singer when he auditioned for the British television series X-Factor in 2008. After being eliminated as a solo performer, he auditioned again in 2010 and was put into a group with four other contestants to form One Direction. The group has since released five albums, embarked on four world tours, and won several awards. Payne has worked with other producers under the monikers “Big Payno” and “Payno” creating remixes for songs by his group and Cheryl. In 13 January 2016, after nearly 6 years as a group, 1D announced the group would go on hiatus, since then the members have built successful solo careers for themselves. Liam signed a recording deal with Republic Records in North America. In May 2017, Liam released “Strip That Down” as the lead single from his upcoming debut album. It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100, being certified platinum in both countries. His debut album, LP1, was released on 6 December 2019. In 2016, Payne started dating Cheryl;they have one son, Bear Grey Payne (22 March 2017). Payne was born at New Cross Hospital, in the Heath Town district of Wolverhampton, West Midlands. He is the son of Karen, an infant nurse, and Geoff Payne, a fitter. He has two older sisters, Nicola and Ruth Payne.[6] Payne was born three weeks early, getting ill frequently. Until the age of four, Payne had regular tests done in hospital as doctors noticed one of his kidneys was scarred and dysfunctional. To help cope with the pain, he had sixteen injections in his arm every morning and another sixteen every evening as a child.As a student, Payne was heavily involved in sports, particularly cross country running. Payne originally joined the Wolverhampton and Bilston Athletics Club to pursue his running career. Payne claimed in an interview that he was ‘3rd best in the country at one point’. As he was dealing with bullying from some older students in secondary school, he took up boxing lessons at the age of twelve. Liam completed 11 GCSEs at St Peter’s Collegiate School before moving on to study music technology at Wolverhampton College’s Paget Road campus. Liam was first introduced to the world of show business at age twelve as a member of the Pink Productions Theatre Company, even appearing as Tony Manero from Saturday Night Fever. Liam had previously performed in front of a crowd of 26,000 during a Wolverhampton Wanderers football match.
Liam first auditioned for the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008, at just 14 years old, in front of judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh. Payne moved past the first round after performing Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon”. He was subsequently cut at the Boot Camp stage, but Cowell then changed his mind and asked Payne to return for the judges’ houses stage. Payne was cut again during judges’ houses, but was encouraged by Cowell to “come back in two years”. Liam returned to the show in 2010 for the seventh series, auditioning in front of Cowell, Cole, Walsh and guest judge Natalie Imbruglia. He sang the Michael Bublé version of “Cry Me a River”, which earned him four yeses and a standing ovation from Cowell. Liam was considered the second favourite to win the competition following his solo audition. He failed to progress to the “Boys” category at judges’ houses, but after a suggestion by guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, Liam, along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik, were put together to form a five-piece boy band at Wembley Arena, during the bootcamp stage of the competition, thus qualifying for the “Groups” category. Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to know each other and to practice. For their qualifying song at Judges’ houses, and their first song as a group, they performed an acoustic version of “Torn”. Cowell later commented that the performance convinced him that the group “were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well.” The group quickly gained popularity in the UK, ultimately coming in third place on the show.
Liam in 2012
Following The X Factor, One Direction were signed to Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment. A book licensed by One Direction, One Direction: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story), was released in February 2011 and topped The Sunday Times’ Best Seller list. Their debut single, “What Makes You Beautiful”, was released in September 2011, and was a commercial and international success, reaching number one in several countries.Their debut album, Up All Night, was released in Ireland and the UK of November of that same year, charting at number one and number two, respectively. The album was released worldwide in March 2012, and One Direction became the first UK group to have their debut album reach number one in the United States. Following the release of the album, the group headlined the Up All Night Tour. Originally intended with shows taking place only in the UK and Ireland, Australian and North American legs of the tour were added due to demand. A commercial success, tickets for the tour sold out in minutes and garnered positive reviews from critics who applauded the band’s singing abilities and stage presence. The band released Up All Night: The Live Tour, a video album documenting the tour, in May 2012. That same month, One Direction’s first book to be licensed in America, Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction, was published and topped The New York Times Best Seller list. In September 2012, “Live While We’re Young”, the lead single from the group’s second album, was released, and was a global success. Another single, “Little Things”, spawned the band’s second number one single in the UK. In November 2012, the group released their second album, Take Me Home, and it reached number one in over 35 countries. Reaching number one on the Billboard 200, the group became the first boy band in US chart history to record two number-one albums in the same calendar year alongside becoming the first group since 2008 to record two number-one albums in the same year. Following the release of the album, the group embarked on their second headlining concert tour, the Take Me Home Tour. Performing 123 shows in North America, Asia, Oceania, and Europe, grossing $114 million. During the tour, One Direction covered Wheatus’s “Teenage Dirtbag”. In the original song lead vocalist Brendan Brown performs a segment in a “female voice” which, in One Direction’s rendition of the song Liam covered in falsetto. This garnered praise from Brown, who commented, “You can do my girl part anytime.” In August 2013, One Direction: This Is Us, a 3-D documentary concert film was released, accumalting a box office gross of $68.5 million. One Direction’s third book, One Direction: Where We Are: Our Band, Our Story: 100% Official, was released that same month.The group’s third album, Midnight Memories, was released in November of that same year. It was the best-selling album worldwide in 2013 with 4 million copies sold globally. The album’s lead single, Best Song Ever, is their highest charting single in the US to date. The group embarked on their third headling tour, the Where We Are Tour. Tickets sold out in minutes, and more shows were added due to “overwhelming demand.” The tour was their first all-stadium tour, averaging 49,848 fans per show. In total, the tour grossed over $290 million and was the highest-grossing tour of 2014, the 15th highest-grossing concert tour of all time, and is still the highest-grossing tour of all time by a vocal group. The tour was attended by 3.4 million fans. In September 2014, One Direction’s fourth book, One Direction: Who We Are: Our Official Autobiography was released. The group’s second concert film, One Direction: Where We Are – The Concert Film, was released in October 2014, showing footage of the band’s shows at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy. In November 2014, the group’s fourth album, Four, was released, making it the last album to include Zayn Malik. Singles “Steal My Girl” and “Night Changes” were released, both achieving platinum status in the US among other countries. The album debuted number one in 18 countries, selling 3.2 million copies. One Direction became the only group in the 58-year history of the Billboard 200 albums chart to have their first four albums debut at number one. The group embarked on their fourth headlining world tour, the On the Road Again Tour, grossing $208 million and selling 2.3 million tickets. In November 2015, One Direction’s fifth album, Made in the A.M., was released. Singles “Drag Me Down” and “Perfect” both debuted at number one in various countries, and the album reached number one in the UK and number two on the US Billboard 200. Following the release of the album, the group went on an indefinite hiatus. Following the departure of former member Zayn Malik, Payne was tasked with taking over the bulk of Malik’s vocals. Bandmate Harry Styles admitted, “Liam [Payne] stepped up to do the high notes. He kicks them in the bollocks every show. He doesn’t hold back.” Liam was known as one of the principal songwriters in One Direction, credited for co-writing more than half of the songs on the band’s third and fourth album.
2016–present: Solo projects and LP1
Payne began working as a producer under the monikers “Big Payno” or “Payno”, teaming up with fellow producers AfterHrs to remix several tracks including Cheryl Cole’s “I Don’t Care” in 2014. Some EDM websites noted Payne’s remixes were venturing into future house. Liam is also credited with writing Cole’s “I Won’t Break”, off her album Only Human. In August 2014, Payne created and became director of Hampton Music Limited, a publishing company under which his solo projects will appear. Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer is signed to One Mode Productions Limited, on which Liam serves as one of the directors. Liam began working on future projects collaborating with Juicy J on seven tracks with more in the works,DJ Mustard, and Miguel. He has also been in the studio with producer and performing artist Pharrell Williams.Liam also contacted The Collective member and YouTube musician and producer Will Singe.
Liam Payne 