A young girl dances in her room with music blasting.
The words of What Makes You Beautiful sound in her room after she gets home from school, where she was excluded from most of the school activities by mean girls.
Five years later, that same girl is crying into her mom’s shoulder when it is announced that One Direction will go on hiatus.
Now, that same girl is in her early 20s and crying along with her best friend as news broke that Liam Payne is dead.
Millions of girls’ hearts were broken on Oct. 16, 2024, when Argentinian news outlets broke that the pop star had fallen from his third-level hotel balcony. According to The New York Times, a hotel desk manager called 911 because of Payne’s actions being erratic and damaging. The manager said that he seemed to be under the influence of excessive drugs and alcohol and that he feared that he would do something to put his life at risk.
A preliminary autopsy was done on Payne’s body and the forensic experts found that he died of “multiple trauma” and “internal and external bleeding”. There is no foul play suspected to be involved based on the injuries found during the autopsy.
Payne’s former bandmates have all come out and given their condolences to his family. They released a joint statement stating, “We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing. In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say. But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly. The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever.”
Each member then posted their own post about his passing with them all sharing heartfelt memories and wishes to have seen him one more time. Niall Horan was the last member to post and many fans were concerned because Payne was in Argentina for Horan’s concert.
He stated in an Instagram post, “I’m absolutely devastated about the passing of my amazing friend, Liam. It just doesn’t feel real…I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking.”
The members and fans are all sending their prayers to his family, especially his son, Bear, who is seven years old.
There have been some conflicting views as Payne has been in hot water recently. Ex-girlfriend Maya Henry came forward, saying that the singer had harassed her and was weaponizing his fans against her.
According to the Daily Mail, Henry issued a cease-and-desist order against Payne, alleging that he had been repeatedly contacting her, her friends and her family. She posted an eight-minute-long TikTok on Oct. 6, stating that, “Ever since we broke up he messages me, will blow up my phone, not only from his phone, it’s always from different phone numbers too, so I never know where it’s gonna come from. Also, he will email me … not only me, but he’ll blow up my mum’s phone. Is this normal behavior to you?”
On Oct. 14, Henry went on an episode of a podcast called The Internet is Dead and talked more about the situation with her ex, “He would always message me ever since we broke up [saying], ‘Oh, I’m not well,’” she claimed. “He would always play with death and be like, ‘Well, I’m going to die. I’m not doing well.’”
“Even up until my book was coming out. One of his friends was calling me and my mom like ‘Oh, you know, this isn’t a good time for him. I don’t think you should put the book out. He’s not doing well and if something happens to him, not only are you going to blame yourself but the whole world is going to blame you.’ It’s such a low f-king manipulation tactic,” she added later in the podcast.
These remarks have concerned fans after Payne’s death. Especially after it was found in the preliminary results that he had a ‘drug cocktail’ in his system consisting of cocaine, benzodiazepine, crack cocaine and ‘pink cocaine’ – which is a combination of methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA.
The police found packs of clonazepam, a depressant, as well as energy supplements and various over-the-counter medications in his belongings. It is also being reported that the final time that Payne was sent up to his room by police, he was convulsing.
So as the young woman sits in her room, knees drawn to her chin, listening to the words of What Makes You Beautiful, she suddenly feels drawn back to when she was 12. Life was so much simpler and now as she cries to herself, she understands that not everything lasts forever.
(update as of Nov. 8, 2024: The official toxicology report has come out and said that Payne only had alcohol, prescription anti-depressants, and cocanie. source: https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/liam-payne-final-autopsy-results-condition-before-death-unconscious-polydrug-use-1235823267/)
