'One Direction' rises on Spotify – 'Night Changes' song nears top – after Liam Payne's death

Topline

One Direction's music, including all five of their studio albums, climbed the Billboard charts again this week after fans paid tribute to the late Liam Payne by streaming and purchasing his former boy band's catalog.

Important facts

tangent

Several artists have paid tribute to Payne on stage since his death, including singer Rita Ora, with whom Payne collaborated on her 2018 song “For You.” Ora performed the song on Wednesday night, hours after his death, but became visibly emotional. “I can’t even sing this right now,” she said as a photo of her and Payne appeared on the screen behind her. Singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers performed a cover of “Night Changes” in Boston on Thursday, saying she was “thinking about how precious life is and how quickly things can change” and wanted fans of Payne and One's music Honor Direction.

What did Payne's former bandmates say?

Payne's former One Direction bandmates, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Harry Styles, shared a joint statement on the One Direction Instagram account on Thursday night, and all four issued individual statements between Thursday and Friday. “We are completely devastated by the news of Liam’s death,” the band said in a joint statement, adding: “The memories we shared with him will be remembered forever.” Horan, whose concert Visiting Liam in Buenos Aires two weeks ago, said Payne was “the brightest in every room and always made everyone feel happy and safe” and said he felt “so lucky that I got to see him recently “. Malik admitted on Instagram that he and Payne sometimes “clashed” but said he had “lost a brother” and was “beyond devastated.” Tomlinson called Payne the “most important part of One Direction” because of “his perfect pitch, his stage presence, his gift for writing,” and Styles said he would remember his time with Payne as “one of the most precious years of my life.”

News Peg

Payne died on Wednesday at the age of 31 after falling from the third-floor balcony of a Buenos Aires hotel. A preliminary autopsy revealed that he died as a result of “internal and external bleeding.” Police responded to the scene after a hotel manager called to report “a guest overcome by drugs and alcohol” vandalizing his hotel room. Payne struggled with addiction issues during and after his time with One Direction, which included a 100-day stint in rehab last year. Payne said he suffered from alcoholism when One Direction was at its peak in the 2010s, adding he was relieved when the band broke up in 2016 because he “had to stop or it would kill me”.

Important background

One Direction became one of the biggest boy bands of all time after rising to fame on the 2010 British version of The X Factor, where judges Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger put the band together after all five members auditioned individually. Before the hiatus, One Direction had sold 50 million records worldwide and grossed more than $570 million from concert tours worldwide. After the band's hiatus, all five members began solo careers. Payne released a solo album, “LP1,” in 2019.

Further reading

One Direction members – including Zayn Malik and Harry Styles – issue statements on Liam Payne's death (Forbes)

Liam Payne alone before falling from hotel balcony, officials say: This is what you should know about the One Direction star's death (Forbes)