The Impact That Liam Payne Had On My Life
On Wednesday the 16th of October 2024, we lost a person who played an important part of a lot of our childhoods.
I was sitting in the bar on my college campus, when a notification from RTÉ News came through (it was late at night, nothing good comes from an RTÉ notification after dark). Before I could even process what had just appeared on my phone, I started to read it aloud. My voice proceeded to grow stronger and louder as I announced “One Direction star Liam Payne dead at 31 in Argentina”. It felt like the room went silent; my heart slowly broke. It began to feel like a bit of my childhood was shattered. “Where did you see this?”, “Holly are you being serious?”. These words came out of my friends’ mouths as I witnessed them have the exact same reaction as I just did.
My parents always talk about where they were when Princess Diana died, it occurred to me that this was the first celebrity death that has really impacted me and one that I will never forget the fact that I was in Nubar when the news broke. I watched as the world slowed down for a second as everyone in the bar started to become aware of the news, a moment I will never forget.
One Direction was the very first thing I ever had an obsession with. I remember watching the X-Factor auditions in 2010 at the age of six, when the boy’s auditioned. I cried when they got sent home. My first concert was the 2010 X-Factour tour, it was a surprise I didn’t know where I was going until I was in the bathrooms of the 02 (now the 3Arena) and I saw a girl with a shirt of Niall Horan. I remember turning to my mam and saying “Look, that girl has Niall on her top”. Then I started to realise all the girls had One Direction on their tops, “Wait, are we seeing One Direction?” I squealed up at her. This is one of my first memories of happiness and excitement that I can recall, one that I hold close to my heart.
The fact is, One Direction was so much more than a band. So much so, that I’m finding hard to put into words what they meant to me and many others. They established a fan base within minutes and Liam was such a huge part of that. From the very start Liam was a valued member of the band. Listening to interviews from other contestants on the Xfactor in 2010, it sounded like Liam was the leader and big brother figure within the band. Liam was a part of four One Direction world tours, wrote countless songs for the group and gave so much to fans over the years.
But there was so much more to “Liam from One Direction”. After the band when on indefinite hiatus in 2016 he continued on to become a solo artist and released “LP1”. In 2019, he became a dad to his son Bear, whom he shares with ex girlfriend, Cheryl Cole. And earlier this year he released his song “Teardrops and was said to be working on a new album. Just like One Direction’s hit song “Don’t Forget Where You Belong” Liam never left his roots behind, he often spoke of the 1D boys in such charming words and he was even seen at Nialls concert days before his passing.
Talking to friends of mine about his death, the most common expressions included the idea of how hard it is to lose someone who was such a huge part of our childhood, it’s almost like we are in disbelief, it’s not real.
I was just on a city break in Edinburgh and we were walking around Edinburgh university, when all of a sudden something caught my eye. It was a homemade sign on the accommodation window that read “RIP Liam Payne”. It’s crazy to me that I feel such grief for someone I didn’t know personally, but the fact is it felt like I did know him. I cared for him and I truly believe that he cared for all of us! In 1D’s documentary entitled “This Is Us” Louis speaks of how he just wants them to be remembered, as long as we all live I can promise you, One Direction is going nowhere.
Liam (Leroy), thank you for everything, I’ll never look at spoons the same anymore, your legacy will always live on forever. RIP Liam Payne!
Below I’ve attached some of my favorite TikToks of Liam! Is someone cutting onions as I’m definitely not crying to “Story Of My Life” right now….
@dnprrys almost a week since liam’s passing and i still can’t fathom that they’ll never be together again 🙁 one direction has been a huge part of me from a very young age and i will be forever grateful for the memories. liam i hope you are resting well and live on with them in spirit. </3 #liampayne #onedirection #edit #1d #harrystyles #zaynmalik #louistomlinson #niallhoran #foryou ♬ For You (Fifty Shades Freed) – Liam Payne & Rita Ora
@sasha_morris2 #liampayne #memoriesareforever #onedirection ♬ original sound – zanreko