Liam Payne passed away at 31 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires. It was a tragic end for the former One Direction star who had been candid about the health struggles he’d faced over the years.
Speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast in June 2021, Payne said that his mental health issues were once, “really, really severe.”
“And it was a problem. And it was only until I saw myself after that, I was like ‘Right, I need to fix myself.'”
What has Liam Payne said about alcohol?
In an interview with The Telegraph in September 2017, after One Direction’s Hiatus, Payne revealed that throughout his time in the band he turned to alcohol to cope.
“[I] wasn’t happy. I went through a real drinking stage, and sometimes you take things too far,” he said.
He told The Diary of a CEO that he relied on “booze and pills” while touring with One Direction.
“The problem was… the best way to secure us, because of how big it got, was to lock us in a room. And, of course, what is in the room? A minibar,” he said.
“At a certain point, I just thought, ‘Well, I’m going to have a party for one,’ and that just seemed to carry on throughout many years of my life.”
Speaking to BBC in December 2019, he revealed that he gave up alcohol for a year after needing a “reset button” shortly after his 2017 single ‘Strip That Down’ was released.
“I’d gotten too used to this rhythm of life; of using alcohol and different things to mask my feelings, or get me through. So I just needed to prove to myself that [drinking] wasn’t the issue for me,” he told BBC.
In July 2023 Payne updated his fans on his relationship with alcohol in an eight minute YouTube video, announcing that he was six months sober after spending time at a rehab centre in Louisiana.
“I just needed to take a little bit of time out for myself actually because I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognize anymore. And I’m sure you guys didn’t either. I was in bad shape up until that point and I was really happy to kind of put a stopper to life and work,” he said.
Payne confessed that it was at a Hans Zimmer concert that he realised that his drink wasn’t “really serving [him] at all”.
“It’s good, it’s good to be in this position,” he said. “I definitely don’t need those things anymore. The party’s over.”
Why was Liam Payne in hospital?
In September 2023 Payne was rushed to hospital while for debilitating kidney pain whilst on holiday with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy in Lake Como, Italy.
Speaking to the Daily Mail at the time, Payne’s mother Karen told the publication, “We are all worried sick about it, but we have to get on.”
“All we can really do is sit it out here and hope for the best. There is nothing we can do. We feel helpless. It’s such a horrible situation and we just hope he’s in the best place possible,” Karen continued; sharing that her son had been receiving treatment in Milan.
Two weeks later his Cassidy told Daily Mail, “He’s feeling a lot better. He’s in good hands. He’s out of hospital.”
News of Payne’s hospitalisation came just over three weeks after the 30-year-old announced that he would be postponing his 2023 tour due to ongoing health issues.
Why did Liam Payne cancel his tour?
In August 2023, Liam Payne took to Instagram to announce that he would be indefinitely postponing the South American leg of his 2023 tour due to an ongoing kidney infection.
“Over the past week, I’ve been in hospital with a serious kidney infection. It’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and doctor’s orders are that I now rest and recover,” he captioned his announcement.
“I was beyond excited to come play for you guys. To all of you who have bought tickets, I’m so sorry. We’re working to reschedule the tour as soon as we possibly can, but for now, we will be refunding tickets.”
Did Liam Payne have one kidney?
In One Direction’s 2011 book Dare to Dream, Payne shared that he had faced kidney issues as a child, with one of his kidneys being scarred from birth.
“I was born three weeks early, and I kept being ill. From the age of zero to four, I was always in hospital having tests done… They discovered that one of my kidneys wasn’t working properly, and it had scarred. I had to have 32 injections in my arm in the morning and evening to try and make me better,” he wrote.
In August 2012, Payne revealed that his ongoing kidney issues appeared to have resolved, tweeting, “Just been for an ultrasound on my kidney [and it] turns out it’s fixed from when I was a baby!!! so now I have two.”
