Liam Payne from 0 to 31 years old

Liam James Payne (August 29, 1993 - October 16, 2024) was an English singer and songwriter. He was a member of the pop band One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, alongside Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson.
Born in the Heath Town district of Wolverhampton, he was the third child and only son of infant nurse Karen Payne and fitter Geoff Payne. He had two older sisters, Nicola and Ruth.
Liam auditioned for the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008 in front of judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh. He moved past the first round after performing Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon". He was cut at the boot camp stage, but Cowell then changed his mind and asked him to return for the judges' houses stage. Liam was cut again during judges' houses, but was encouraged by Cowell to "come back in two years".
He 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", but failed to progress to the "Boys" category at judges' houses. During the boot camp stage of the competition, Liam, along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik, were put together to form a five-piece boy band called One Direction, to compete in the "Groups" category. The group came in third place on the show.
Following One Direction's hiatus in 2016, he pursued a solo career, signing with Republic Records in North America. In 2017, he released his debut solo single "Strip That Down", which reached number three on the UK singles chart and number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100. The following year, he released "For You", a collaboration with Rita Ora which became a hit worldwide and received gold or platinum certifications in several countries. His solo studio album, LP1, was released in December 2019. During the first three years of his solo career, Liam sold over 18 million singles, 2.4 million albums, and amassed 3.9 billion streams. In addition to his solo work, he produced remixes under the pseudonyms Big Payno and Payno, remixing tracks for both his group and for singer Cheryl.
In late 2015, he started dating singer Cheryl, whom he first met when he was 14 years old at his first X Factor audition, where she was a judge. The pair would meet again when Payne reapplied for the show at 16, where 26-year-old Cheryl was again a judge. The couple had one son, Bear Grey, who was born in 2017.
Liam struggled with substance abuse and mental illness throughout his career. On October 16, 2024, he died after falling from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, while intoxicated. He was 31 years old. Following his death, Liam's track "Teardrops" debuted on the UK singles chart, alongside the re-entry of 11 of his other works. Five people were later charged in connection with his accidental death: two people for supplying him with narcotics, and three people for criminal negligence of a person who was a danger to himself.