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‘He had all the stuff you need to be a pop star’: how Liam Payne helped One Direction to global glory

Although he was less extroverted than his bandmates, his impressive vocals made him a cornerstone of the era’s defining boyband. So why did he struggle to accept his own greatness?

Photograph: Bill McCay/WireImageShe remembers them filling their manager’s hotel room with toilet roll and having to clear it up herself; lip-readers caught Harry Styles telling the X Factor victor Matt Cardle: “Think of how much pussy you’re going to get,” live on TV during the final (One Direction came second). The other members had their own vibe – alpha hottie (Harry Styles), moody enigma (Zayn Malik), nice guy (Niall Horan), cheeky lad (Louis Tomlinson) – but Payne struggled to carve out a distinct identity for himself. Such stars still exist today, albeit with palpably greater agency in their image‑making –take Sabrina Carpenter – but they are greatly outnumbered by artists such as Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan and Charli xcx, plus the indie-leaning Mitski and Phoebe Bridgers: singers who are intensely relatable, write their own material and have become celebrated in a euphoric sorority.

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