You’ve definitely got it. Whatever it is, you’ve got it,” Cole told Payne during his audition. “And I thought your voice was really, really powerful.”

One Direction was one of the last boy bands from the age of mass-audience linear television and one of the first of the social media era.

Liam Payne and Niall Horan crossed paths just before the “Strip That Down” singer’s death on October 16, 2024 — proving that their friendship was strong even after One Direction split.

After the boy band broke up in 2016, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Payne all pursued solo careers to varying degrees of success.

Payne, who was one of the group’s standout singers, fell from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, emergency services officials said.

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Singer Liam Payne died Wednesday in a fall from a CasaSur hotel third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires. He was 31. Payne rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction, which also included Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson .

Friends and collaborators have expressed shock and sadness over the death of former One Direction singer Liam Payne, who has died in Buenos Aires, Argentina at age 31

One Direction band members paid tribute to Liam Payne after his death. Niki Gunter. More Videos 'Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage' bedroom scene shows a life winner

Niall Horan is speaking out following the death of his former One Direction bandmate, Liam Payne, saying he is “absolutely devastated at the passing of an amazing friend.” “It just doesn’t feel real,” Horan wrote early Friday on Instagram alongside a black-heart emoji.