Liam Payne is one fifth of the UK’s biggest boyband, One Direction.
Since the band split in 2015, the hitmaker has gone from strength to strength as a solo artist and has even become a dad with his former X Factor judge, Cheryl. But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for the Wolverhampton native.
Throughout his life, the musician has battled with various health conditions which have forced him to take a step back from making music. From “dying as a baby” to his latest hospital dash, the musician has put on a brave face while fighting off some crippling illnesses.
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As the Kiss You hitmaker celebrates his 31st birthday with a bang, Daily Star has taken a deep dive inside his health battle.
‘Dying as a child’
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
The star has battled with bouts of severe illnesses ever since he was a child, according to The Mirror. Liam was born prematurely in 1993, and according to reports, regularly fell sick in his early years.
It is understood he spent a significant amount of time in hospital as a youngster when doctors noticed one of his kidneys was scarred. This resulted in him undergoing 16 injections in his arm every morning and night.
In 2011, he revealed: “I effectively died as a baby. I was born three weeks early and 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.”
(Image: TalkbackThames / Rex Features)
Thankfully, Liam’s health woes subsided as he got older when the star started running cross country in school. His passion for sport coupled with his history of health issues, was another motivator for taking care of his body.
He said: “I have to be careful not to drink too much, even water, and I have to keep myself as healthy as possible.”
Hospital dash
(Image: Getty Images for Atlantis The Ro)
Over the years, the former X Factor star has been forced to postpone gigs for his loyal legion of fans. Most recently, the star had to delay his tour after he suffered a kidney infection in Italy last summer.
The doting dad was raced to hospital during his romantic trip to Lake Como with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy. In an lowkey video, Liam told fans: “This really is the last news I want to be telling you but basically, I’ve been a little bit unwell recently. I ended up in hospital with a bad kidney infection.
“We started rehearsals and I’ve been advised that now is really not the right time to be travelling on the road while I recover from this. I’ve got the best people around me at home trying to help me recover as we speak, but yeah, we’re gonna have to reschedule the tour.”
(Image: Instagram)
In January 2022, the former X Factor star postponed his Here’s to the Future virtual showcase after he tested positive for Covid-19. In May 2021, he suffered from a mystery respiratory illness, telling fans he was “coughing” and “very poorly” for the past few weeks.
He added: “I feel sorry for anybody else out there who is also sick at the moment. But as the good old British people say, ‘it is going around’.”
Rehab stint
(Image: Kate Green/Getty Images)
In July, 2023, Liam opened up about his 100-day rehab stay in a Louisiana facility. The singer revealed that he was nearly six months sober at the time as he admitted to removing himself from the public eye to work on his mental wellbeing.
Taking to his YouTube channel, the Strip That Down hitmaker explained that he wanted to work on himself before returning to the stage. He told fans: “I just needed to take a little bit of time out for myself actually, because I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognise anymore.
“And I’m sure you guys didn’t either. I was in bad shape up until that point and I was really happy to kind of put a stopper to life and work.” In the eight-minute video, the pop star revealed that he was without his phone for his entire stay.
(Image: YouTube)
According to Payne, the “hardest part” about leaving the facility was turning his phone back on. He confessed: “Turning the phone back on was a little bit scary. I’ve been trying to learn to get to know this new guy..”
Now it appears as though the singer is doing better than ever after he dropped his most recent single Teardrops back in March. Fans will have to stay tuned to see what the musician gets up to next.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
