Liam Payne’s solo career hewed closer to the R&B sauce of former One Direction bandmate ZAYN than the rock classicism of Harry Styles. By the time One Direction announced a hiatus in 2015, Payne had already been working on his own material, and he released his first single, the sinewy Quavo team-up “Strip That Down”, in the spring of 2017. His debut album, 2019’s LP1, featured smouldering R&B, grand ballads and slinky electropop with collaborators like urbano megastar J Balvin, pop artist Rita Ora and EDM megaproducer Zedd. In March 2024, he released the introspective single “Teardrops”, his first release since 2021. Payne passed away in October 2024 at 31 years old.