Liam Payne, Mental Health and the Music Industry
On Wednesday the 16th of October 2024, we all learned that Liam Payne from One Direction sadly left us in Argentina. As a One Direction fan, I can’t even begin to explain the sorrow I’ve felt hearing the news and the pain I am still experiencing. But I’m not here to talk about my pain or delve into the theories surrounding his passing. As always, I’m here to talk about mental health. My hope with this post is to send out a message that might make a difference. For me, even if just one person feels helped, touched, or impacted by my words, then it will have been worth it.
the tragic news
The hotel staff in Argentina reported chaotic scenes from Liam’s room, describing him as behaving erratically and aggressively. Photos from his hotel room showed disturbing signs of this chaos. While I don’t want to speculate, I feel it’s important to address the context surrounding this. Liam had openly talked about his struggles with mental health, including depression, in the past. Based on his interviews and the information available, I wondered if his experiences could be connected to a possible bipolar disorder, though he never disclosed any official diagnosis. If this assumption is correct, what the hotel staff described as chaotic and aggressive might have been symptoms of a manic state, possibly exacerbated by substances.
Statistics show that between 25% and 60% of people with bipolar disorder attempt suicide at least once in their lives, and between 4% and 19% die by suicide. It’s also worth mentioning that Liam was seen wearing a pin necklace — a powerful symbol of suicide prevention.
one direction’s history and controversies
Liam Payne is mainly known as a former One Direction member. One Direction was formed during The X Factor UK in 2010. Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne auditioned as solo artists before being grouped together by Nicole Scherzinger (not Simon Cowell, as many believe). At the time, Harry was 16, Louis was 18, and Liam, Niall, and Zayn were 17. Despite finishing third, their popularity exploded, especially on social media, and they quickly became one of the most successful boy bands in history.
From 2010 to 2015, One Direction released five albums and embarked on four world tours. This pace was insane, and even as a young fan, I noticed how much work they were doing. While I was enjoying their music, I started to realise that something seemed off. Compared to artists like Taylor Swift, who released five albums over ten years, One Direction was being pushed at an unrealistic pace. We all need to remember that these were teenagers and young adults, who were being overworked, to the point, I would say, of exploitation. To give some context, Taylor swift released her first album in 2006, and hr fifth album came out in 2017 - over a span of 11 years. Meanwhile One Direction achieved in five years what many artists take more than a decade to accomplish. The workload they endured was simply too much for their age.
One Direction were, in fact, often described as “meteors”, to indicate how their fame would fade quickly. I do wonder whether this is how producers also saw them, which could explain why they were in such an urge to make them release as much music and products as possible. In addition, they were young people always around adult people, which, despite were working for One Direction, apparently used to tell them constantly what to do. Liam later revealed in an interview on The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett that they were often confined to hotel rooms by the staff around them. He admitted to drinking heavily from the mini-bar because he had so little to do with his time. This must have greatly affected their mental health. Liam added that although those people technically worked for them, they were so young that they didn’t fully understand the power dynamics. They didn’t realise they could have had more say in what was happening.
It’s also hard to say how involved their parents were involved in decision-making, especially in the early years when some of the boys were still underages. Ideally, parents should have had a significant role in safeguarding their well-being, but we don’t know what happened behind the scenes,
I recently rewatched This Is Us, One Direction’s documentary, with my boyfriend. Seeing it as an adult, I noticed troubling details I had missed before. For instance, Louis’s mother mentioned that he’d only been home five times in three years. In general the band’s gruelling schedule was talked about very often in the movie, as also the boys described how they were always on the move. They rarely got breaks, and this pattern comes across clearly in the film.
The most concerning moment, for me, was a scene where Zayn was woken up in the middle of the night to record lines after only ten minutes of sleep. Why was there such an urgency to wake him up? They really could not wait to record a song? It’s worth noting that Says was 20 years old at the time. He wasn’t a neurosurgeon being woken up to save someone’s life. He was a musician being woken up to record a line. I genuinely don’t understand why this was necessary. Watching this scene, I couldn’t help but feel deeply uncomfortable. It highlighted the unreasonable demands placed on these young men.
the Hiatus
In 2015, Zayn left the band in the middle of a world tour. At the time, we didn’t know the full story, but he had visibly lost a lot of weight and seemed deeply stressed. The band didn’t really shared much about what was going on behind the scene, and just reported that Zayn wanted to pursue other career venues. However, I think with what we know now, it is safe to assume that being in One Direction was too much for his mental health. Shortly afterward, One Direction announced a hiatus. Each member pursued solo careers, and some of them had more success than other. However, I think it is safe to say that none of them reached the same level of fame they had as a group (which, all things considering, is not necessarily a bad thing).
Some psychological insights
Being at the top of your popularity when you are very young, and having a lot of success and even a lot of power on thousands of people can have a great impact on people’s minds. At the same time, losing all of this success suddenly can have a huge impact on mental health. In particular, for someone already vulnerable to mental health challenges, this shift can be devastating. In addition, experiencing such fame at a young age might mean starting to associate your value to external validation and to the opinion that other people have of you. This means that when people’s opinion of you is positive, everything is great. However, when public’s perception of you starts to shift, your own opinion of you might also change drastically in a negative way.
This could be what happened to Liam. He was on top of the world as a young adult, and then his popularity started to fade. Liam faced significant online hate in the weeks leading up to his passing. We could only imagine the impact that this had on his already vulnerable mental health. This included criticism for attending Niall’s concert and dancing. Some labeled him an “attention-seeker,” but I saw someone simply enjoying a moment of joy. I think that we should all be reflecting about the impact of online bullying and its fatal consequences, especially on people already vulnerable to mental health difficulties.
Liam was also being criticised for openly talking about One Direction and reminiscing about those days. I think he did that because those were some of his best memories. I also feel like he might have clung to those memories because his present, compared to his past, felt more challenging with his popularity declining.
Another heartbreaking detail is that Liam’s record label was reportedly planning to terminate his contract.
The problems with the music industry
The music industry has a history of exploiting young artists. The relentless schedules and the lack of sleep to which artists are often subject to, can have long term effect on mental health and brain development, especially at a young age.
Another potential issue is the introduction of substances at a young age, which is so common in the music industry. Liam himself admitted to struggling with substance misuse during One Direction’s peak. I do wonder (although this is just speculation) whether they were provided with substances by those around them to allow them to have that relentless schedule. As we are discovering also with the recent news about the industry, it is not uncommon for young starts to have access to substances that help them come with their demanding lifestyles. Substance misuse, especially during crucial developmental stages, can lead to the development of serious mental health disorders like anxiety, depression or even bipolar disorder.
Rebecca Ferguson recently commented on Liam’s passing, also reporting the difficulties experienced by artists in the music industry. She said
“It’s always a hotel room. We both met at Houston Station and shared a taxi to the X-Factor. Young, innocent and unaffected by fame. I can’t help but think of that boy who was hopeful and looking forward to his bright future ahead. If he hadn’t jumped on that train and jumped in that taxi I believe he would be alive today. I’ve spoken for years about the exploitation and profiteering of young starts and the effects - many of us are still living with the aftermath and the PTSD. Many of us are devastated today and reflective today as it has finally taken its first victim. Rest in peace Liam, I hope you find peace on the other side and love to your mum and family”
Moving Toward Change
I think that this tragedy should inspire us to make changes in this exploitative and potentially traumatic industry. I believe that shows like The X Factor should have mental health professionals available to support young contestants. Parents should be more involved in the work of underage artists, and, when the artists are on tour, guardians should be appointed to make sure the interests of the artists are always made. Additionally, I believe contracts should enforce reasonable working hours, especially when dealing with underage artists. These changes are necessary to create a healthier environment for current and future artists.
In addition, I hope people will reflect on how damaging online hate can be. People were sending hate to Liam, a person already vulnerable to mental health difficulties. Sending hate in general is bad, but sending it to someone that is already struggling is just mean.
A Personal Promise
At Liam’s memorial, I made a promise to use my knowledge and resources to prevent tragedies like this from happening again. Mental health is a human right, and no one should feel so alone or unsupported that they lose hope. Let’s honor Liam’s memory by fostering kindness, compassion, and meaningful change.
Treat people with kindness, always.