Sam Fender on Liam Payne: “He was just a young lad, famous far too young, who had addiction trouble — and everyone hit him with the pitchforks”

nme.com:

Sam Fender has reflected on the death of ex-One Direction singer Liam Payne last year – see what he had to say below.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.