Liam James Payne (August 29, 1993 – October 16, 2024) was an English R&B-pop singer-songwriter. He made his debut as a singer when he auditioned as a solo artist for the British television series The X Factor in 2008. He reauditioned as a solo artist in 2010, where he was put into a group along with four other contestants, to form the boy band that would later become known as One Direction.

After joining One Direction, Payne, along with bandmates Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles and former bandmate Zayn Malik, released five commercially successful albums, performed on four worldwide tours, and won multiple awards, including several BRIT Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards. He also worked independently under the monikers “Big Payno” and “Payno”, creating remixes for songs such as British pop singer Cheryl’s single “I Don’t Care”.

When One Direction first announced their hiatus in 2016, Liam said that he would stay in the music, but not go into a solo singing career. On May 10, 2017, Liam announced the release of his debut single “Strip That Down”. It became one of the biggest-selling debuts of all time, one of the most streamed songs of Summer 2017, making it the biggest selling song by any member from One Direction at the time.

On October 16, 2024, Payne was reported dead after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.