Max Payne (young)

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Payne was born at New Cross Hospital in the Heath Town district of Wolverhampton on 29 August 1993, the son of infant nurse Karen Payne and fitter Geoff Payne. He had two older sisters named Nicola and Ruth. Payne was born three weeks premature and suffered frequent illnesses. Until the age of four, he had regular tests done in hospital as doctors noticed one of his kidneys was scarred and dysfunctional. As a student, Payne was heavily involved in sports, particularly running. He began taking boxing lessons at the age of 12 amidst bullying from older students in secondary school. Payne completed 11 GCSEs at St Peter's Collegiate School before moving on to study music technology at City of Wolverhampton College. He was introduced to show business at age 12 as a member of the Pink Productions Theatre Company, appearing as Tony Manero from Saturday Night Fever.

In Their Own Story

Payne auditioned for the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008, at 14 years old, performing Frank Sinatra's 'Fly Me to the Moon'. He was cut at boot camp, then again at judges' houses, but Cowell encouraged him to 'come back in two years'. Payne returned in 2010 for the seventh series, singing the Michael Bublé version of 'Cry Me a River'. During boot camp, Payne, along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik, were put together to form a five-piece boy band called One Direction. The group became the last contestant eliminated on the show. In January 2011, One Direction were signed to Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment. Their debut single 'What Makes You Beautiful' and debut album Up All Night were released later that year. All of their next four studio albums—Take Me Home (2012), Midnight Memories (2013), Four (2014) and Made in the A.M. (2015)—debuted at number one in the UK. Midnight Memories was the world's best-selling album of 2013. One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.

Reader's Guide

Following One Direction's hiatus in 2016, Payne pursued a solo career, signing with Republic Records in North America. In 2017, he released his debut solo single 'Strip That Down', which reached number three on the UK singles chart and number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song received multi-platinum certifications in both countries. The following year, he released 'For You', a collaboration with Rita Ora which became a hit worldwide and received gold or platinum certifications in several countries. His debut and sole solo album, LP1, was released in December 2019. During the first three years of his solo career, Payne sold over 18 million singles, 2.4 million albums, and amassed 3.9 billion streams. In addition to his solo work, Payne produced remixes under the pseudonyms Big Payno and Payno, remixing tracks for both his group and for singer Cheryl. Payne struggled with substance abuse and mental illness throughout his career. On 16 October 2024, he died at the age of 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, while intoxicated. He had traces of multiple substances in his body.

Did You Know?

• Payne was born three weeks premature and had a scarred, dysfunctional kidney that required 32 injections in his arm each day until age four.
• He performed in front of a crowd of 26,000 during a Wolverhampton Wanderers football match at age 12.
• Payne co-wrote more than half of the songs on One Direction's third and fourth albums.
• He produced remixes under the pseudonyms Big Payno and Payno, including a remix of Cheryl's 'I Don't Care' in 2014.
• Following his death, Payne's track 'Teardrops' debuted on the UK singles chart, alongside the re-entry of 11 of his other works.