Sam Fender has reflected on the death of ex-One Direction singer Liam Payne last year – see what he had to say below.
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Speaking to The Sunday Times about his latest album ‘People Watching’, Sam Fender broke down the themes of several tracks on the record. One of those tracks is ‘TV Dinner’, which has been lauded since its release as a takedown of the music industry.
On the track, Fender mentions the late Amy Winehouse and the industry’s treatment of her leading up to her untimely death in 2011: “Like Winehouse, she was just a bairn / They love her now but bled her then“. The same thing tragically happened to Liam Payne, who suffered a fatal fall from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina last year.
Prior to Payne’s death, the artist was largely criticised by the public just days before the tragic fall as he had attended ex-bandmate Niall Horan’s Argentina concert and was mocked for “stealing” the attention of fans who had paid to see Horan. Payne had also had several public battles with addiction, in July 2023 opening up about a recent stint in rehab.
Reflecting on Payne’s passing, Sam Fender revealed to The Sunday Times that he had written ‘TV Dinner’ shortly before the tragic incident: “It’s the British culture of building them up to knock ’em down. It was wild. I wrote that, then Liam Payne died.”
Fender went on to add that he thought Payne was let down by the industry: “You think of the amount of times he was getting dragged through the press and he didn’t help himself, did he? Bless him. I remember watching some videos he was in and being, like, ‘God, what a tit.’ But the reality was that he was just a young lad, famous far too young, who had addiction trouble — and everyone hit him with the pitchforks.”
Sam Fender’s comments echo that of The Darkness‘ Justin Hawkins who had previously criticised Payne but explained why he isn’t going to remove his posts in light of the singer’s death.
Back in March 2023, Hawkins shared a video in which he looked at previous interviews that Payne had done, and criticised some of his behaviour as coming across as “arrogant”. A large segment of the video centred around the divisive discussion Payne had with Logan Paul, in which he recalled the formation of One Direction and implied that he was meant to be seen as the main member in the line-up.
Although Hawkins seemed to defend Payne to an extent – describing him as his “favourite” member and sympathising with him as one whose brand “suffered the most post-One Direction” – the comments made were brought to light once again following the singer’s death.
He said: “It’s really sad what happened to him, but at the end of the day, it’s not going to change my view on those specific behaviours. Everybody’s complex and there are layers to this and laughing at some stuff that’s laughable… that’s what I do. It’s what I’ll always do.”
In a four-star review of ‘People Watching’, Tilly Foulkes wrote for NME: “Reflective, analytical and vulnerable, ‘People Watching’ does exactly what the title may suggest: takes stock of the characters, friends and loved ones who have made Fender the person he is today. He approaches each track with sensitivity as he looks back on his life so far – perhaps even with an inkling of guilt – and contemplates who he may be next.”
Meanwhile, Fender recently revealed that he is already working on its follow-up and announced further dates to his forthcoming UK stadium tour in the summer, including Wythenshawe Park in Manchester on August 16, Edinburgh Summer Sessions on August 22 and Boucher Road Playing Fields in Belfast as part of the VITAL Series on August 28.
Support for the first two shows will come from Olivia Dean, while CMAT will be opening the show in Belfast. Visit here to buy tickets and find a list of UK tour dates here.
The singer-songwriter was also recently announced as the official ambassador of Record Store Day UK 2025 – set for April 12 – and will release two new songs as part of a special EP to celebrate. He is nominated for two BRIT Awards at next month’s ceremony: Artist Of The Year and Alt/Rock Act.
