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The Boy and the Band
One Direction fans had been grieving the loss of a grounded, normal pop star for years before Liam Payne’s tragic death.
To Paynos in the early 2010s, he was the funny, outgoing 1D boy, never afraid to make a fool of himself, who, within the confines of the group’s escalating fame and nonstop touring, came off as the most grounded of the five new pop stars. Unlike the other members, who read more like polished archetypes, Payne gave the impression of a realistically mature, buoyant presence (who was credited for writing a significant amount of the group’s hits). When Payne emerged from rehab last year, he tried to further explain to fans the struggles he’d endured in that video from last summer, titled “I’m Back …”, the ellipsis expressing a not-subtle amount of uncertainty.
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