The recent passing of former member of the band One Direction has triggered controversies spanning social media and even classroom discussions. On Oct. 16, singer Liam Payne passed away at the age of 31 after falling from the third story of a hotel in Argentina.
Already receiving backlash over his past relationships and controversial remarks in years prior to his death, his substance abuse at the time of his death fueled Payne’s further degraded reputation. However, the news on Oct. 16 hit his fans like a boulder. The singer’s unexpected death took many back to their days of fawning after the popular boy band, One Direction.
The members of the band – Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne – had made their way into people’s hearts in the six years they performed for sold out stadiums. For many, Payne’s death was an end to their childhood or their teenage years.
Those who had grown up listening to the five boys that had made their way into people’s hearts since 2010, had also seen the singer grow up and become a successful, solo artist, albeit the controversy. As fans and many celebrities grieved the controversy. As fans and many celebrities grieved Payne’s death through emotional tributes, others took to social media to criticize this grief towards Payne by calls of “abuser” and “addict”, claiming Payne deserves no empathy despite his passing.
However, what these comments fail to understand is that people are not just grieving a singer that delved into controversies. They’re grieving someone who composed a large part of their early memories. They’re grieving their childhood. The unimaginably early loss of one of the members of the band felt like a blow to the fanbase. The loyalty towards the boys in their fanbase was so strong that fans had desperately hoped for a reunion of the five, now solo, artists even seven years after their “hiatus” – until Oct. 16.
Payne had spent the days leading up to his death donating to fundraisers for sick children, being a father to his son, and supporting his former band mate, Niall Horan, at his concert. That’s the person the fans choose to grieve for. The hate towards this mourning of the singer is gravely insensitive to those who have lost a big part of their childhood. Many might say that this was someone the fans did not know personally, but music just possesses that ability that helps listeners connect to the artist at a personal level without ever really knowing them. And seeing a singer who began his journey as sixteen year old boy and grew up in a band with impeccable bonding with members he was good friends with till his very last day, fans justifiably grieve the days they used to see him on stage.
As worded by Nicole Scherzinger while forming a band out of the five boys in X-Factor in 2010, “They’re like little stars. You can’t get rid of little stars.”
Fans lost one of the five stars on Oct. 16.
Staff Writer:
Gaurika Gupta
