Musicians attending the Pride of Britain Awards at The Grosvenor House Hotel on Monday night paid tribute to Liam Payne following his tragic death.
The One Direction singer died aged 31 last Wednesday after he plunged 45ft from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires.
In the days since his shock passing, many have called for there to be better protection of young artists to help them deal with fame.
As a slew of stars hit the red carpet at the 25th annual Pride Of Britain Awards, many took the opportunity to talk about Liam and the need for great measures for artists.
Singer Beverley Knight admitted she was ‘heartbroken’ by the sad news, explaining how both she and Liam were from Wolverhampton.
Musicians attending the Pride of Britain Awards at The Grosvenor House Hotel on Monday night paid tribute to Liam Payne following his tragic death (Beverley Knight pictured)
The One Direction singer died aged 31 last Wednesday after he plunged 45ft from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires (pictured last year)
In the days since his shock passing, many have called for there to be better protection of young artists to help them deal with fame (pictured in 2010 at age 16)
She told MailOnline: ‘He was a young lad from the same town as me, he walked the same streets as me. I knew the school he went to, people he hung around with.
‘I though of his parents Geoff and Karen, his sisters. I just thought where is the care for these young people who come to fame at such an early age.
‘Liam was a Wolverhamptoner, so I kept an eye on what he was doing. And to see a lad so young with so much going for him to the outside world and to see where the other side of fame took him has broken my heart.’
She continued by demanding that younger artists were better looked after, with priority placed on their mental health.
Beverley said: ‘We need more care for young people in the music industry. He was initially 14, 15 when he started, the 1D lads were babies! And as minors there should be so much more care, so much more attention.
‘In theatre there are chaperones for kids until they reach the age of 18, we should have the same in music.
‘Kids need to be protected, they cannot just be a means of making money or generating money. They cannot, they have to be protected, their mental health has to be looked after first and foremost.’
JLS star JB Gill, who shot to fame on the X Factor like Liam did, reminisced about the times they had shared together, while opening up about the difficult side of fame.
As a slew of stars hit the red carpet at the 25th annual Pride Of Britain Awards, many took the opportunity to talk about Liam and the need for great measures for artists
Singer Beverley Knight admitted she was ‘heartbroken’ by the sad news, explaining how both she and Liam were from Wolverhampton
She continued by demanding that younger artists were better looked after, with priority placed on their mental health
He said: ‘I think there’s definitely something to be said for protecting artists full stop. I think there’s a lot of things that people don’t see behind the scenes.
‘They just see the glitz and the glamour, they see what goes on stage, they see the successes often. But they don’t see the everyday struggles and the things that people go through behind closed doors.
‘And of course it was devastating news. We had a great relationship with Liam as you know, JLS and the One Direction boys performed a number of times all together.
‘Funnily enough actually we knew Liam before he was in One Direction because he was part of the 2008 X Factor journey even though he didn’t go through to the live finals. So it was a tough week for me last week.’
He went on: ‘Marvin [Humes] has spoken incredibly well about our relationship with him and his personal relationship with him as well.
‘It was a lot to process, but one of the things I was so proud of with Liam was he actually got to live his dream. If you knew him pre-X Factor and One Direction, he was just a happy-go-lucky kid, loved to sing and wanted to share his voice with the world and he got to do that. So that is the silver lining I think with this terrible news.’
Singer Chesney Hawkes said he hoped that Liam’s death triggered a positive change in the industry and commented on how reality shows have caused ‘casualties’.
He said: ‘Going through this business is not an easy thing. I feel for Liam and his family. It does spit you out, this business, and I feel there needs to be more support for artists. Especially artists that go through these reality shows where they are very famous for one minute and then spat out.
JLS star JB Gill, who shot to fame on the X Factor like Liam did, reminisced about the times they had shared together, while opening up about the difficult side of fame (seen with Amy Dowden)
Singer Chesney Hawkes said he hoped that Liam’s death triggered a positive change in the industry and commented on how reality shows have caused ‘casualties’
‘We all know there have been casualties of that machine. And I’m hoping that with tragedy like this comes some kind of hope that the business is going to look after these people.’
Shayne Ward recalled meeting Liam, as he said: ‘I think worldwide we all feel exactly the same – it’s heartbreaking.
‘I met Liam a handful of times and he was always such a sweet boy, just enthusiastic, amazing voice, very handsome lad. Even thinking about it now, it’s heartbreaking and none of us can still quite believe it to be honest.’
While McFly’s Tom Fletcher also spoke about the time he had spent with Liam, admitting: ‘It’s been an incredibly tough week. We worked with Liam, toured with him, wrote songs. So yeah it was really heartbreaking news.
‘And I absolutely think more needs to be done to protect young artists and so I really hope this can start that conversation. Obviously think everyone is just in shock still.
‘We had some great memories. All of the boys were so lovely to work with, especially back in the day when they were really young and fresh and new to the business.
‘They reminded us a lot of ourselves and it was a great honour for us to get to work on their albums and then tour with them, we had great memories.’
Liam was outspoken about how the global fame of One Direction changed his life and affected his relationship with drugs and alcohol, once admitting: ‘I don’t know if I’ve hit rock bottom yet.’
Shayne Ward recalled meeting Liam, as he said: ‘I think worldwide we all feel exactly the same – it’s heartbreaking’ (pictured)
While McFly’s Tom Fletcher also spoke about the time he had spent with Liam, admitting: ‘It’s been an incredibly tough week’ (pictured)
Speaking to Stephen Bartlett on the Diary Of The CEO Podcast in 2021, he admitted: ‘I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where’s rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it’.
‘I don’t even know if I have hit it yet. I can either make that choice now and pick my last moment as my rock bottom or I can make a whole new low.’
He admitted he had suffered for years with ‘social anxiety’ and ‘stress’ from being famous, and discussed the pressure his mental health was under while not having the freedom to go anywhere as a boyband member.
Saying: ‘It feels to me, like when we were in the band. The best way to secure us was to lock us in our rooms, and what is in the room? A mini-bar.
‘So I had a party-for-one that seemed to carry on for many years of my life, and then you look back at how long you’ve been drinking? And Jesus Christ that’s a long time, even for someone as young as I am.’
In multiple interviews Liam explained how he’d used alcohol to cope with both the massive success of One Direction and their subsequent split, telling Men’s Health Australia in 2019 that ‘it’s difficult when you have the level of fame that we had in the band.’
‘There have been a lot of people in trouble with mental health that aren’t really getting the help that they need, and I think that’s a bit of a problem in our industry,’
‘It’s the same s**t that happens to everyone, that’s been happening since the ’70s. You know what the traps are and if you are lucky enough, like me, to be able to get out of that scenario and back into a sense of normality, then you know it’s a bit different.’
Liam was outspoken about how the global fame of One Direction changed his life and affected his relationship with drugs and alcohol , once admitting: ‘I don’t know if I’ve hit rock bottom yet’ (One Direction pictured on The X Factor)
Liam admitted he had suffered for years with ‘social anxiety’ and ‘stress’ from being famous, and discussed the pressure his mental health was under (pictured in 2023)
Liam went onto compare going on stage and out in public to ‘putting the Disney costume on,’ admitting: ‘I was [drunk] quite a lot of the time because there was no other way to get your head around what was going on’.
‘I mean, it was fun. We had an absolute blast, but there were certain parts of it where it just got a little bit toxic.’
It comes after X Factor boss Simon Cowell faced a backlash over Liam’s death, with contestant Katie Waissel declaring ‘we all know the truth’ and Rebecca Ferguson criticising the ‘exploitation and profiteering of young stars’.
Katie, a 38-year-old singer-songwriter who also auditioned during the 2010 series, name-checked Simon in two statements in which she accused music bosses of focusing on ‘profits rather than people’.
Simon, 65, created the X Factor franchise and served as a judge on the show, and signed One Direction to his music label, Syco.
Katie first took to X to reveal her heartbreak at her friend’s death, writing: ‘My heart is completely torn to shreds right now, I am at an absolute loss for words.
‘If Simon Cowell dare put a statement out on the heart wrenching, tragic loss of my dear and darling friend Liam, he would be a fool. We all know the truth… and I’ll be sure it all comes out.’
Rebecca, who also appeared on X Factor in 2010 alongside Liam and Katie, has previously shared her views that the music industry is hiding ‘awful human rights abuses’ and claimed that she has endured ‘systematic misogyny and bullying’ throughout her career.
It comes after X Factor boss Simon Cowell faced a backlash over Liam’s death, with contestant Katie Waissel (pictured on show in 2010) declaring ‘we all know the truth’
While Rebecca Ferguson, who also appeared on X Factor in 2010 alongside Liam and Katie, has previously shared her views that the music industry is hiding ‘awful human rights abuses’ (pictured on show with Simon in 2010)
