Liam Payne’s voice is the first one heard in the culture-shifting boy band One Direction’s debut single: "What Makes You Beautiful" launches into a bouncy guitar riff, a cheeky and borderline gratuitous cowbell and then, Payne.
One Direction were the internet’s first boy band, and Liam Payne its grounding force
Liam Payne’s voice is the first one heard in the culture-shifting boy band One Direction’s debut single: "What Makes You Beautiful" launches into a bouncy guitar riff, a cheeky and borderline gratuitous cowbell and then, Payne.
"You're insecure, don't know what for / You're turning heads when you walk through the door," he sings, in a few words assuring a cross-section of generations that he’s got your back, girl, and you should like yourself a little bit more.
Payne, who died Wednesday after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at just 31, was also the last solo voice on the band’s final single, "History" - effectively opening and closing the monolithic run of one of the biggest boy bands of all time.
While the exact circumstances of his death remain unclear - Buenos Aires police said in a statement that Payne "had jumped from the balcony of his room," although they didn’t offer details on how they established that or whether it was intentional - in life, Payne was a critical part of the internet’s first boy band, one that secured an indelible place in the hearts of millennial and Gen Z fans.