As Liam Payne once said, “Life is all about the journey.”
One Direction fans all over the world, including South High, are grieving over Payne’s death. Payne was discovered dead outside his hotel room in Argentina on Oct. 16.
Payne’s career started off with him auditioning for a show called “The X Factor UK” in 2008. He caught the attention of Simon Cowell and was brought back in 2010 to join 4 other contestants–Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson, which all came together to form the band One Direction.
The group quickly became popular and launched a very successful career, selling over 70 million records worldwide, and 21 million in the United States. Unfortunately, the band broke up in 2016, allowing them to all have solo careers. Payne released one solo album, “LP1,” in 2019. Everybody has been hoping for them to do a reunion, but now that Liam Payne has tragically passed, the only reunion that One Direction will be when the surviving members arrive for his funeral, which will be sometime in November, according to reports
Fans have been grieving his death and made posts on social media. Business teacher John Barnabee is a One Direction fan and talked about how he hopes the surviving members of the band sing at Payne’s funeral.
“It’s a cool celebration to the members of One Direction,” he said.
Throughout conversations among several students and One Direction fans, it comes clear that many people were not expecting this death. Junior Sarah Al Shunnaq said she had a hard time even believing it really happened.
“My friend told me in a group chat and it was so random. I thought he was joking so I was laughing for half an hour,” she said.
South students like junior Ruth Rundahl are very upset about Payne’s death.
“I am really sad and upset because I loved Liam Payne as part of One Direction and it will never be the same,” she said.
This shows that Payne wasn’t just a member of a boy band, but a significant figure in fans’ lives. Not only was Payne a big part of One Direction and their fame but he had a huge impact on so many lives. Payne taught life lessons through his music and inspired people throughout the years.
Senior Kiah Morgner shares the lesson she learned and how it helped her better as a person.
“I learned about love and friendship cause they stuck together even when the band had broken up,” she said.
