A Look Back at Liam Payne’s Life

Transcript

00:00As the world mourns Liam Payne following his tragic October 16th death,

00:04Us Weekly looks back at his incredible life and shocking death.

00:07On the surface, Liam Payne appeared to be enjoying life.

00:11He was recently dancing at his former bandmate Niall Horan's concert in Argentina on October 2nd

00:16and chilling with his American girlfriend of two years, influencer Kate Cassidy.

00:20But in the background, reports on social media and in the press told a totally different story.

00:25On October 14th, two days after Cassidy flew back to the States,

00:29Payne's ex-fiancé, model Maya Henry, issued a cease-and-desist order

00:33to stop the star from contacting her and her family.

00:36A source tells Us in the new issue of Us Weekly that Liam seemed fine a few days prior,

00:41but was acting erratic on the day of his death.

00:43According to reports from Buenos Aires, a hotel employee presumed Liam was drunk on drugs and alcohol

00:49and was trashing property around the hotel in the minutes before his death at the age of 31.

00:54Police sources told Us Weekly that it's unknown whether Liam jumped or suffered an accidental fall from the balcony.

01:01He was left with serious injuries that were untreatable by the time first responders arrived at the hotel.

01:06ABC News later reported that Payne had pink cocaine,

01:09a recreational drug mixing together methamphetamine, ketamine, and MDMA, in his system,

01:15along with cocaine, benzodiaphine, and crack, and that an aluminum pipe was also found in his hotel room.

01:22Away from the headlines and social media discourse, Liam wasn't just a pop star.

01:27He was also a much-loved father, son, and brother.

01:30He spoke regularly about his bond with his 7-year-old son, Bear, whom he shared with his ex, Cheryl Cole.

01:36Now, back in 2010, X Factor judge Simon Cowell opted to form One Direction with Liam, Harry Styles,

01:42Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik.

01:45They went on to sell over 200 million records worldwide and won dozens of awards.

01:51Following the band's split in 2016, Liam attempted to launch a solo career,

01:55but his only album was met with mixed reviews.

01:59In 2021, Liam revealed that he'd even thought about suicide.

02:03But in 2023, he did reveal that he was sober,

02:06following a 100-day treatment program for his self-confessed pills-and-booze phase.

02:11Now, whatever was really going on behind the scenes in Liam's seemingly complicated personal life,

02:16his death at such a young age is utterly devastating for his millions of fans,

02:22the friends he leaves behind, and especially for the tight-knit family

02:25who had proudly watched him grow up from a vulnerable baby to one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.

02:32Now, they said in a statement following his death,

02:46you