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Tribune News Service

“Hey man, are you good?”
AJ McLean had reason to be concerned about Liam Payne. Since production wrapped on the new Netflix music competition series where they had met earlier this year, the Backstreet Boys veteran and One Direction star had talked almost every day on WhatsApp – at least until Payne’s sudden two-week silence early last month.
Plus McLean, 46, knew Payne, 31, had struggled with addiction. On the set of Building the Band, where Payne was a celebrity mentor to contestants and McLean the host, the two forged an unusually tight bond over their shared experience: starting their careers in the crucible of teen celebrity and later battling substance abuse.
“He was an absolute light, such an old soul,” says McLean, describing the “very older brother” feeling he developed for Payne. “But you could tell you were talking to someone who had seen some s***, who had not lived a normal life.”

McLean, who had his three-year sober anniversary in September, says he does not believe Payne was using drugs during the period when the Netflix programme filmed. He says they often spoke “candidly about sobriety, sharing stories and one-upping each other. We could laugh about it all, because if you’re still there to talk about it, that means you’re moving in a good direction.”
As it turned out, though, Payne was again fighting his demons. On October 16, one day after McLean texted his final check-in, the singer fell to his death from a third-floor hotel balcony. Authorities found Payne’s hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, strewn with drug paraphernalia, and an autopsy showed “pink cocaine”, a mix of designer drugs, in his bloodstream.
The pop star’s shocking death shone a spotlight on the ups and downs of the One Direction member who struggled most acutely to chart a post-boy-band course, and renewed age-old questions about how to support troubled young artists caught in the crucible of modern fame – as well as hold them accountable.

“I feel like there will never be a definitive answer as to why this happened. That’s the most painful thing to sit with. Why now? Why this way?” McLean says. “But there’s no rhyme or reason when you’re hurting and looking for escape.
“I can torture my brain about ‘Why didn’t he respond?’ But I get it. I just hope people remember him the way he was – a massive heart and a massive talent.”
In 2008, 14-year-old boy Liam Payne confidently strode onto the audition stage of the UK singing competition The X Factor. Sporting the era’s ubiquitous sideswept fringe, he told the judges: “I’m here to win.”
With a rendition of American singer Frank Sinatra’s jaunty “Fly Me to the Moon”, Payne showed off his immaculate pitch and rich vocal tone, and a rakish presence beyond his years.
“I think there is potential with you, Liam,” said judge Simon Cowell. “I’m just missing a bit of grit, a bit of emotion.”

While fellow panellist Cheryl Cole – the Girls Aloud member and future mother of Payne’s son, Bear – seemed charmed, Cowell was less certain about Payne’s solo star power. “You’re a young guy, good-looking, people will like you,” Cowell said. “But there’s 20 per cent missing from you.”
Payne was axed from the show but, undaunted, returned to audition again two years later. It was during that 2010 stint on The X Factor that Cowell anointed him a member of One Direction, which would go on to become one of the most successful pop groups of the decade.
After performing for thousands of fans, the band would often be confined to their hotel rooms, lest they be mobbed on the streets. And “the minibar is always there”, Payne said.
“I wasn’t happy. I went through a real drinking stage, and sometimes you take things too far,” he elaborated. “Everyone’s been that guy at the party where you’re the only one having fun, and there were points when that was me.”




In 2017, Payne made his first serious commitment to sobriety. He began a two-year professional relationship with Chip Somers, a psychotherapist and sober companion who had been “put forward as somebody who could deal with people with notoriety and could be trusted to do so”.
Without his 1D brethren, Payne felt less sure of himself than he had anticipated. He started going to therapy because he “couldn’t really figure out what was making [him] sad”, he said in 2019.
That year, Payne became the last of his bandmates to release a solo single. “Strip That Down”, a bouncy tune co-written with Ed Sheeran and featuring rapper Quavo, was a moderate hit, reaching No 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Strip That Down” would turn out to be his only top-10 solo single, and just three other tracks cracked the Hot 100. His 2019 debut, LP1, peaked at No 111 and spent only one week on the album charts. Payne’s voice – so flexible and powerful within One Direction’s group dynamic – went adrift when he performed as a solo act.
For highly scrutinised boy band stars like Payne, “There’s a long history of being devalued except for the money you can make for someone. It’s very easy to develop an addiction to get through the day,” says Allison McCracken, a scholar at DePaul University, in the US state of Illinois, who studies intense pop fandoms.
“It’s very difficult to stop when your sense of self-worth is tied up in what made you a star. If you don’t have a strong support group to say, ‘This is a problem’, and that other things about you are worthwhile too, it’s very difficult to stand up for yourself.”

Last year, Payne had begun to get closer again with former One Direction members, appearing at the premiere of Louis Tomlinson’s documentary and applauding Styles’ win for album of the year at the Grammys. “I’ve suffered a bit of a dark time in my life at the moment. Honestly, I wouldn’t be here without the boys,” he said at Tomlinson’s premiere.
Payne’s final single, “Teardrops”, was released in March. The song showcased his full high vocal range and featured an admission of his failures and vulnerabilities as a partner: “I don’t know how to love you when/I am broken too/Maybe your words make sense/I could be the problem, I’m so sorry.”
Yet behind the scenes, his future as a commercial solo act was uncertain, as Payne had recently split from his label, Capitol Records.
A representative for Universal Music Group and Capitol declined to comment, but sources familiar with the situation said that the label and Payne’s management had disagreements about Payne’s musical direction, and Capitol was concerned about sending Payne on tour, given his recent struggles with substance use. A month before his death, Payne and the label had parted ways.
For now, those close to Payne are trying to make sense of his death, including whether there was more they could have done to intervene – while hoping that his chaotic final days will not wholly define his legacy.
As Somers put it, remembering the “fragile, gentle young man” he had helped get sober back in 2017: “I think to judge anybody on a night when they are very intoxicated would be a tragic mistake.”


From Wicked to Crazy Rich Asians and Step Up 2, every film directed by Jon M. Chu ranked

Meet Aussie actor Josh Heuston, who plays Constantine Corrino in Dune: Prophecy: he modelled for Louis Vuitton and Gucci, and only committed to acting in 2020 – but did he really date Kendall Jenner?

Who is Sundance Head’s supportive wife Misty? The Voice winner’s baby mama has been sharing updates about the singer’s health after he accidentally shot himself at his Texas ranch last week

Meet Wicked director Jon M. Chu’s wife, Kristin Hodge: he skipped hanging with Ariana Grande at the film’s LA premiere when designer Kristin gave birth to their fifth child

Fame and celebrity

Liam Payne’s struggle with addiction and his tricky journey after the end of One Direction

Liam Payne attends a film premiere in London in 2016. Photo: Getty Images

Fans leave tributes at a memorial for Liam Payne in London after he died in Buenos Aires. Despite success with One Direction, Payne struggled with addiction and the pressures of his post-band fame. Photo: Getty Images

AJ McLean performs in Nashville, Tennessee in 2024. He forged an unusually tight bond with Liam Payne after working on a Netflix show together. Photo: AFP

One Direction at the BBC Music Awards in 2014 in London. Photo: TNS

Payne at the premiere of ex-bandmate Louis Tomlinson’s documentary film All of Those Voices in 2023 in London. Photo: TNS

A photo of Payne is placed with a rose and candles as fans gather in Madrid, Spain, after the British pop singer fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Argentina. Photo: AP

RIP Liam Payne, you and One Direction were an inescapable part of my life

One Direction, pictured in 2011. Photo: AP 

Fans of One Direction singer Liam Payne react after his death, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 16, 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

One Direction (from left): Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Liam Payne perform on NBC’s Today show, in November 2012 in New York City. Photo: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Liam Payne performs during the first day of BBC Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend at Singleton Park, in Swansea, Wales, in May 2018. Photo: AP

Mongolian metal band The Hu sing odes to Genghis Khan and the sky god Tengri

(From left) Temuulen “Temka” Naranbaatar, Galbadrakh “Gala” Tsendbaatar and Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts of The Hu perform with the rest of the Mongolian heavy metal band at the Tacoma Dome in the US state of Washington on October 16, 2024. Photo: AP

The Hu on stage during their recent North American tour. Photo: Instagram/thehuofficial

Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts of The Hu. Photo: Instagram/thehuofficial

Pop rock icons Tears For Fears on new live album, concert film and ageing with the music

Tears For Fears  members Curt Smith (left) and Roland Orzabal  have released a concert film and a new live album Songs For A Nervous Planet. Photo: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP 

Roland Orzabal (left) and Curt Smith of Tears for Fears, perform at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in June 2022, in Alpharetta, Georgia. Photo: Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP

How Gillian Chung of Cantopop duo Twins survived the Edison Chen photo scandal to keep thriving as a singer and actress

Gillian Chung at an interview with the Post in 2009. Photo: SCMP

Gillian Chung at an interview with the Post in 2010. Chung, one half of Hong Kong’s Cantopop duo Twins, is now thriving as a singer and actress but the road to success – marred by a scandal involving intimate photos – has not been an easy one. Photo: SCMP

Charlene Choi (left), then 18, and Chung, 20, at an interview with the Post in 2001. Photo: SCMP

Choi and Chung perform on stage at HarbourFest in October, 2003. Photo: SCMP

Chung (left) in a still from “The Twins Effect” (2003).

Chung speaks at a press conference attended by more than 300 artists, legislators and supporters in Tseung Kwan O in 2006. Photo: SCMP

Chung (left) and Choi at the Asian Film Awards presentation ceremony in Wan Chai in 2007. Photo: SCMP

Chung was interviewed in March 2009 about the photos of her and Edison Chen. Photo: TVB

Chung at an interview with the Post in 2009. Photo: SCMP

Chung (left) and Choi of Twins meet their fans in March 2010 ahead of their reunion concert, titled “Bouncing Back”, at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Photo: SCMP

Chung and Michael Lai on their wedding day, with (back row from left) bridesmaids Yumiko Cheng, Joey Yung and Choi, in 2018. Photo: Instagram/@yungchoyee

Gillian Chung in a still from the film “Prison Flowers” (2023).

Gillian Chung (left) and Charlene Choi during preparations for their 2024 concert series. Photo: Instagram/@q_gill

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Despite finding global success with One Direction, Liam Payne struggled with addiction and the pressures of his post-boy-band fame


Despite finding global success with One Direction, Liam Payne struggled with addiction and the pressures of his post-boy-band fame.
