Date of Birth

29 December 1993, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, UK

Nickname

Payno
Liam the Payne Train
Daddy Directioner
Daddy Direction

Height

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Mini Biography

Liam was born in Wolverhampton, West Midland, England, UK to, parents, Geoff and Karen Payne. He has two older sisters, Nicola and Ruth. Liam was born three weeks early, and as a result he had a lot of health problems.Since age 6 Liam showed signs of musical talent but he had his heart set on becoming an Olympic runner, he was a member of the Wolverhampton and Bilston Athletics Club. He would wake up at 5am every day to run five miles before school. His running dream ended at 14 years old when he narrowly missed out on a spot in the England schools team. At that point, he decided to completely focus on his singing, although he still loves his football club, West Bromwich Albion.

Trivia

• Is a member of boy band One Direction.
• Studied Music Technology before auditioning for The X Factor for the second time.
• During One Direction's time on The X Factor UK (2004), Payne often sang lead vocals and sang solos during every performance.
• Auditioned for The X Factor UK (2004) twice - the first time in 2008, when he reached the judges house stage and was then sent home. And the second time in 2010 where he was given the opportunity to form a boy band with Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Zayn Malik. He was mentored by Simon Cowell both times.
• His band One Direction were formed at the boot camp stage of The X Factor UK (2004) as he and his fellow members were thought to be too good to throw away, but not interesting enough to progress as soloists.
• He was born with one functional kidney.
• He named his first turtle Harry.
• He is a big fan of singer Leona Lewis.
• If he wasn't a singer he would want to be a firefighter or a gym teacher.
• Liam was on the reserve list for sprinting, for the 2012 London Olympics.
• Favorite movies are all the "Toy Story" films and "Click".
• His first pet was a terrapin named Frederick.
• Liam has two older sisters named Nicola and Ruth.
• His favorite TV shows are "Friends" and "Everybody Loves Raymond".
• Liam is the son of Karen J. (Harris) and Geoffrey R. Payne. On his father's side, he is the grandson of Kenneth E. Payne and June L. (Duncan). On his mother's side, he is the grandson of Douglas Harris and Myra (Taylor). All of his great-grandfathers worked on the railways.
• Has two older sisters, Nicola and Ruth Payne.
• United States and Canada, on the 2012 One Direction US tour. [May 2012]
• 2013 World Tour [February 2013]
• One Direction's 2011/2012 UK tour sold out in just 12 minutes.
• Father of Bear Grey Payne (born 22 March 2017) with ex-girlfriend Cheryl.
• He started dating Maya Henry in 2019 and the two got engaged in 2020.
• He was in a relationship with Cheryl from early 2016 to July 2018. They share a son.

Quotes

• I was ill. I was told I was stressed, so I had to get everything checked out. I didn't think I was, but someone told me I was. As a result, I went to get a blood test. I'd never had one before, so I held my breath when I was getting it done. That caused me to go into a fit.
• I had a few dating disasters along the way with girls cheating on me. One girl was the inspiration for me singing 'Cry Me A River' on 'The X Factor.' That was my payback to her because she was unfaithful.
• Please don't throw phones. They hurt. And we sell them on eBay.
• It's so amazing to hear a crowd of people singing one of your songs. It's the best feeling.
• When I think about it, I do start to worry about this whole social media thing. It does make me uncomfortable; kids should be out, living their lives, getting out and enjoying themselves.
• People sometimes ask if I want to be a solo artist, but it just wouldn't be any fun being on your own.
• I was bullied by a few people who were much older than me. I went to camp to learn boxing. I was 12, and my coach was 24. I felt like if I could fight him, I could stand up to anyone.
• The feather was a thing, when I was a kid, we used to find feathers around the house, and whenever we found them, my mum used to say it was my nan leaving them around for us to find, so that was quite sweet.
• I've still got both kidneys, but one doesn't work, so I have to be careful not to drink too much, even water, and I have to keep myself as healthy as possible.
• I think the whole thing, boy band, it's a little bit of a dirty word. They say it's not a good thing to be in a boy band. We want to change that. We want to make the boy band cool. It's not just about dancing and dressing the same.
• It's important to have a life outside the band.
• I think I've changed a little bit. I don't know whether it's for the better or for the worse at the moment. I've settled into a different mind frame now... being a bit wilder maybe!
• I really liked one girl and asked her out 22 times, but she always said no. Finally I sang to her, and she said she'd go out with me.
• I think sometimes I don't realise how much the pressure gets to me.
• We've always described our sound as a bit more guitar driven than normal pop music. Kind of Pink in a boy band form. We've heard a few people say that so now we use it. I think Pink is amazing person to be compared to.
• Being a fan of someone's show and the way they still hold a family together doesn't mean I am OK with all they say.
• I'm doing a two-hour show every day, so you can eat what you want.
• Let's just say I haven't been keeping up the Gary Barlow persona; I've let loose.
• I was always called Payne or Payno.
• I had a test on my kidneys a few weeks back and found out I have two.
• I'd just like to be able to walk outside as everyone does and enjoy time with my friends, not feel bad for not wanting to take a picture.
• When I was born, I was effectively dead. Weird, I know. The doctors couldn't get any reaction from me, so I had to be brought round, and although it seemed like I was okay, there were underlying problems.
• On our American tour bus, the bunks are a bit taller so that we don't bash our heads. On the English bus, we bash our heads every morning. It's not the best thing to do first thing when you wake up.
• I listened to a lot of Jay-Z and Kanye coming up, which would be unexpected for a boy bander like me. But I'd listen to a lot of that, and a lot of Ed Sheeran, actually.
• I was born three weeks early, and I kept being ill. From the age of zero to four, I was always in hospital having tests done, but they couldn't find out what was wrong. They discovered that one of my kidneys wasn't working properly, and it had scarred. I had to have 32 injections in my arm in the morning and evening to try and make me better.
• When you have more than two people working together, it gets a bit unfocused as an idea.