The Rise And Fall of Liam Payne

1. A starring role in Saturday Night Fever

Image Source/ The Mirror

Liam James Payne was born in Wolverhamptom on 29th August 1993. He did well at school and was a member of the Pink Productions Theatre Company by the age of 12, where his love of music and theatre began. He played his first starring role as Tony Manero during a production of Saturday Night Fever.

2. His Frank Sinatra getting rejected in 2008

Image Source/ The Mirror

When Liam was 14 years old, he appeared on The X Factor for the first time. At his first audition, he sang 'Fly Me To The Moon' by Frank Sinatra. He did manage to get the judge's attention, but he was unfortunately booted out at Judges' Houses, with a message from Simon Cowell telling him to return when he was older.

3. Finally getting a YES two years later

Image Source/ Teen Vogue

Staying true to his word, Liam returned to The X Factor two years later when he was 16. This was in 2010 and he wowwed the judges into a standing ovation with a rendition of Michael Bublé's 'Cry Me A River'. He STILL only made it to Judges' Houses as a solo artist, but this time there was a twist...

4. One Direction is born...

Image Source/ E! Online

Nicole Scherzinger is the person responsible for the birth of One Direction. It was her bright idea to place Liam into a boyband with Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan. They were all young solo artists not going any further in the competition without each other. In a stroke of genius, they went all the way to the final and came fourth.

5. Directioners take over the world

Image Source/ Daily Mail

Despite only coming fourth in The X Factor, One Direction were without a doubt the biggest success off the back of the show. They achieved 4 UK Number 1 singles, including 'What Makes You Beautiful' and their self named super fans, 'Directioners', almost took over the world.

6. Becoming the One D Dad

Image Source/ Teen Vogue

Liam wasn't the oldest in the group, but he did take on the 'Dad' role. Management for the band even told him that was his specific role, to keep everyone else in line. He was classed as 'Mr Boring' at one point, which didn't flatter him, and probably led to the start of his rebellious streak...

7. A personality change

Image Source/ The Sun

"If you can't beat them, join them" became Liam's attitude after a while. He became more cheeky and carefree and the rest of the band followed suit, which led to them becoming even MORE successful. He started getting into alcohol for the first time and this is when the tables started to turn.

8. Picking up some unhealthy habits

Image Source/ Pinterest

Riding the waves of success with One D led him to alcohol which helped numb the lows inbetween the highs of performing. He also admits that for a time, he was taking an epilepsy drug as a mood stabiliser which helped level him out, but really affected him when under the bright lights of the stage to the point where he couldn't even say his own name.

9. His bandmate, Zayn, makes a move

Image Source/ Insider

In 2015, Zayn Malik leaves Liam and the rest of the boys behind. The remaining 4 One D boys tried to carry on without him and they even released another album in the years that followed, 'Made In The A.M', but it seems like they could never really fill that gap.

10. The hiatus begins

Image Source/ Vulture

In 2016, One Direction announce their official hiatus, much to the devastation of Directioners around the world. The whole groupie type following was in uproar. The band had a good run of successes together, but had decided it was time to go their separate ways. Liam took six months off after the split and began therapy.

11. Enter Cheryl

Image Source/ Just Jared

In early 2016, Liam started dating Cheryl Cole, one of the X Factor judges that had voted him through. At ten years his senior, they kept their relationship quiet for as long as they could, as people had a lot of opinions on the age gap, and not necessarily nice ones.

12. Liam signed a solo record deal!

Image Source/ Daily Express

After a short break, Liam signed a solo record deal in 2016 after the rumour mill had been in overdrive about an album. He signed with Republic Records in October 2016 and this really feels like a turning point for his career being on the up again. He was becoming the talk of the town again.

13. Strip That Down... and dance

Image Source/ Cosmopolitan

'Strip That Down' was Liam's first single in 2017 and was an absolute hit. Not just for the music, but for the choreography he performed on stage to it. It was a Russian folk dance style and has been recreated by the thousands for Tik Tok and various other memes.

14. Bear is born

Image Source/ People

In 2017, Liam's first son, Bear, was born. He had apparently always wanted to be a young dad and at 23 years old, his wish came true. Although, he has since admitted that fatherhood at that age didn't come as easy as he thought it was. He sees Bear two to three times a week now, even though him and Cheryl are no longer together.

15. Dropping a few more teasers

Image Source/ Forbes

'Get Low' and 'Bedroom Floor' were the next two singles Liam released in 2017. Teasers to what fans hoped would next be a solo album, Liam seemed to be thriving as a solo artist and without the constraints of band members. He even had his own devoted set of super fans.

16. Fifty Shades of Liam

Image Source/ Daily Record

In January 2018, Liam joined forces with pop super star, Rita Ora. Together they duetted on hit single, 'For You', which was the hit single from the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack. They even performed the single live on stage at the 2018 BRIT Awards together.

17. A BRIT award!?

Image Source/ POPSugar

As well as performing at the BRIT Awards in 2018, Liam was also one of the nominations at the awards for British Single and British Artist Video of the Year. Unfortunately, he missed out on winning but it's still another notch in his belt as an artist.

18. Liam and Cheryl call it a day

Image Source/ OK! Magazine

In July 2018, Liam and Cheryl Cole publicly confirmed their split from each other, but assured us all that they are very much continuing to co-parent. Apparently Liam is still a great dad and sees Bear whenever he can, which is hard with a gruelling tour schedule.

19. One step closer to an album...

Image Source/ Apple Music

With everyone desperately waiting for an album, Liam decided to delay it and release his first EP instead. This was in August 2018 and featured four new tracks including one, 'First Play' which he collaborated with French Montana for. He really knows how to tease...

20. A few more collabs

Image Source/ Daily Star

Liam must love working with other artists, as he collaborated even more for the rest of 2018. He can be heard singing on Jonas Blue's 'Polaroid' anthem, alongside Lennon Stella. This track has sold two million records since it was released and is still being played now.

21. A Boss deal

Image Source/ Teen Vogue

Turning away from music for a while to build his brand, Liam becomes a Global Brand Ambassador for the iconic fashion brand, Hugo Boss, in May 2019. He was actually the first global ambassador for the brand. We imagine a gig like this has HUGE perks.

22. FINALLY, an album

Image Source/ Amazon

After a VERY long wait, Liam finally delighted his fans with the release of his first solo album, 'LP1', in December 2019 (over a year since it was originally supposed to be released). His album peaked at number 17 in the Official UK Charts and featured his hit debut single, 'Strip That Down'.

23. The obligatory Christmas single is released

Image Source/ Rolling Stone

Every artist who wants to be successful has to release a Christmas song, right? Liam decided to join the likes of Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey by releasing his first Christmas song called 'All I Want (For Christmas). It must have picked up enough attention because he actually released a second song at Christmas 2020!

24. Nude pictures attract some attention

Image Source/ Irish News

From his initial Global Ambassador role, Liam really moved up the ranks with Hugo Boss. He appeared in their fragrance campaign for Hugo Now in January 2020 and then he went on to release a collection with the designer in May 2020. There was some pretty nudey pictures released for this collection which certainly drew some attention...

25. Ron's Gone Wrong for Liam

Image Source/ The US Sun

After a short break, Liam released his first track of 2021 in the October which was called 'Sunshine'. It features on the 20th Century Studios animated movie, Ron's Gone Wrong. If you haven't seen it then where have you been living!? A song featured in a movie must be a pretty good feeling.

26. Having a change of career...

Image Source/ Just Jared

In 2022, Liam is further diversifying from music by debuting his football talents for Soccer Aid. He actually captained the England team and played alongside Tom Grennan, Aitch and football legend Gary Neville. They ended up losing on penalties to a team featuring Usain Bolt.

27. A slip of the accent

Image Source/ Huffington Post

While attending the Academy Awards, Liam weighed in on the infamous Will Smith Oscars slap during a live red carpet interview. The twist? He was answering questions in a weird Irish-Welsh-American hybrid accent that made everyone cringe. He later claimed to be drunk.

28. Revealing some One D secrets

Image Source/ The Tab

Not long after his embarrassing red carpet interview, Liam was interviewed by Logan Paul for his podcast. He revealed quite a few One Direction secrets, including that one member of the band threw him against a wall! It seems like they might have had their fair share of arguments at the time that their management did well to keep quiet.

29. Some clickbait to start a storm

Image Source/ Birmingham Live

More recently, in April 2023, Liam is still not doing much on the music scene but seems to be causing quite the stir on social media. He posted a picture on Twitter that went viral that seemed to suggest him and Tommy Fury set to have a boxing match. As it turns out, he is just taking part in Soccer Aid. Things can't be great if he is having to turn to clickbait.

30. Joining the cosmetic surgery trend

Image Source/ The Sun

Not long ago, Liam appeared on the red carpet at a film premiere of ex-bandmate Louis Tomlinson, but the focus was on Liam more than the film as he suddenly had a drastically different appearance. Fans are speculating whether he has undergone cosmetic surgery, specifically buccal fat removal, to leave him with a very chiselled jaw line.