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Liam Payne: the heady rise and tragic death of a One Direction star – podcast
Oritse Williams of JLS and the Guardian’s head rock and pop critic Alexis Petridis reflect on the life of Liam Payne, including the extraordinary success of One Direction, and his struggles with the fame that came with it
As the Guardian’s head rock and pop critic Alexis Petridis explains to Helen Pidd, the 31-year-old Payne had had a career of extraordinary success as part of the boyband One Direction, selling more than 70m records worldwide. The members of One Direction were only teenagers when they formed – strangers reportedly thrown together in 10 minutes as they competed on reality TV show The X Factor – and they would have to spend much of their youth under an almost unprecedented global glare. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters Oritse Williams of JLS and the Guardian’s head rock and pop critic Alexis Petridis reflect on the life of Liam Payne, including the extraordinary success of One Direction, and his struggles with the fame that came with it
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