“Is this how they felt when the first Beatle died?”
It was past midnight. My phone was at 10 percent, but it didn’t matter. I needed to finish watching the “Where We Are Live Tour,” as if I was living vicariously through my screen.
My 11-year-old self would have spiraled if given the chance to attend a One Direction concert. Even now, I own all their albums as CDs and could sing every lyric to every song.
But my love for the band was about more than just the music — it was about Harry, Louis, Liam, Niall, and Zayn, who made the fandom as large as it is today.
The One Direction fandom, also called Directioners, was and still is one of the biggest fan bases in the world. With more than 65 million albums sold worldwide, the boy-band was the “it” group of the 2010s. Even after the group split up in 2015, the band remains extremely popular, with new fans emerging every year.
That’s why the tragic news of Liam Payne’s passing cut deep for millions of fans like me. Now, the music we felt so attached to and comforted by has turned into a source of grief, as a reminder that we lost part of our childhood.
Payne died last Wednesday, after falling from his hotel balcony in Argentina. He was only 31 years old, one of One Direction’s youngest members. Thousands of fans have held memorials to honor the former singer, leaving tributes in London, Chicago, Paris, Sydney, and more.
Shocking and heartbreaking, to say the least, the news marked the end of a beloved chapter in our lives. As Directioners who grew up with One Direction, his unexpected passing confirmed that life is short. Now that many of us are in college and in our 20s, we can understand the gravity of the matter.
Freshman Lucia Fisher was one of these fans. “Staying up watching every interview, concert, and music video was what I remember the most. And then in 2020, while we were all locked in our houses, that phase started again,” Fisher said.
An eventual reunion was a key part in keeping Directioners together. People were waiting for the day the former members announced that they were getting back together or just meeting up in public. Payne was the member who wanted One Direction back the most. His solo career was not as impactful as he had hoped, making him the least successful after the band’s split. And now, with his death, as Fisher said, “the much-awaited reunion is practically impossible.”
But why are we feeling such great loss over someone we didn’t even know?
Parasocial relationships are normal with celebrities and their followers, acting as a surrogate for social interactions and friendships they may not have in reality. It is also just nice to be a part of a community, even if it is online.
Through social media and in real-life interactions, the band made each fan feel valued and part of something larger. In response, young teens were invested in every aspect of the member’s lives – Payne included.
But it isn’t just the fans. Besides his former bandmates, celebrities like Rita Ora, Charlie Puth, and 5 Seconds of Summer have all shared words online for the singer. One Direction was a milestone in music history that arguably shaped a generation. Payne was more than just a singer, and his death truly highlighted that.