Liam Payne was not only a performer, but also a father. The One Direction singer kept son, Bear Grey Payne, whom he shared with singer Cheryl, out of the limelight.
Liam shockingly passed away on October 16 after falling from his hotel balcony in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires, Argentina at the age of 31. He was staying at the Casa Sur Hotel where he plummeted three floors into the inner courtyard of the hotel. It’s been reported based on a preliminary autopsy, that his cause of death was “multiple traumas” both externally and internally. In a initial toxicology report, he had various drugs in his system such as “pink cocaine” and crack, and his death is still currently being investigated.
Liam is survived by his 7-year-old child bear, his parents, Geoff and Karen Payne, and his older sisters, Ruth and Nicola. We take a look inside his relationship with his son. Liam has offered a few glimpses into their relationship over the years.
Liam and Cheryl first met when he auditioned for X-Factor at 14 and she was a 25-year-old judge at the time. Nothing appeared to happen until February 2016. Cheryl was rumored to have been dating Derek Hough in 2010, when Liam auditioned again and One Direction formulated. She filed for divorce from her husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini in January 2016. Then on March 22, 2017, they welcome their son Bear into the world but broke up in July 2018. The pair have remained amicable ever since.
Cheryl and Cole both took to Instagram a few days after Bear’s birth to announce the happy news. In December 2017, the Strip That Down artist posted a photo of himself and baby Bear wearing matching sneakers. In the post, he talked about how 2017 was a “crazy year” for him and he was going to post a photo every day. He concluded in the caption: “@cherylofficial has been an incredible mother to baby Bear since the day he was born and I cant thank her enough for that.”
Cheryl also gifted him a bear necklace for Father’s Day in 2017, which he wore in tribute to his son. Liam also shared with The Sun in 2017 that he was taking a break from music when Bear begins school.
“I had a bit of a break at the start [when Bear was born] but now I want to get work out of the way before school and stuff [with him] starts you know,” Liam said. “I want to more at home with him during that time. Im trying to be as busy as I am right now.”
On Bear’s milestone first birthday in 2018, Liam shared a photo of him holding his son’s little hand and called him “his world.” Liam spoke to PEOPLE in 2018 about being a dad and how being a young dad is something he always desired: “I always wanted to be a young dad but I didnt really expect that Id ever be in this place.”
“I look at him, like, ‘Wheres my little baby gone already?’ Hes walking around the house, pretending his teddys a phone. Hes awesome. And a lot of fun. I love spending time with him,” He said to the outlet about how fast fatherhood goes as Bear gets bigger and bigger.”
He also talked about how Bear is his biggest fan and loves to hear his music specifically his new single at the time with J. Balvin called Familiar.
“I played him demo tapes of ‘Familiar’ ages ago before it came out. Then when it came out, he was like, ‘I remember this one! He goes rigid and like shakes with excitement and wants to get as close to the speaker as possible,” the British performer said.
In 2020, in a deleted Instagram Story, Liam shared cookie that Bear made for him on Father’s Day.
In 2022, Liam talked to PEOPLE once again about being a father and Bear after celebrating his 5th birthday and mentioned how his son looks at him like a “superhero.”
“I see him two times a week, three times a week sometimes,” he said. “And I make sure when I see him, he has 100 percent of my time. I make sure that I’m not on my phone or dicking around somewhere else.
“So, I like to give him those moments and it’s important, he needs that in his life, he needs his dad in his life, and I’m happy he looks at me like a superhero, and I’m hoping to keep it that way,” Liam added.
When Liam was struggling with alcohol, he shared on video on his YouTube channel in 2023 that during his 100-day stay in a Louisiana rehab facility, he was six months sober. He thanked Cheryl and Bear for giving him the “freedom to go and get well in that moment” which is something he said he needed to do.
“Theres no point trying to be a dad when youve got nothing to teach, and I dont think up until this point I really had much to say to him, other than just caring for him deeply and loving him very deeply,” Liam continued.
Liam showed once again how Bear is his biggest fan when he commemorated the release of his single Teardrops in March with a photo of his son looking at a promo of the song. He quoted Bear in the caption, saying: “I want to be on a billboard one day daddy.”
His most recent Instagram post about Bear was in August when he talked about his “mini-me” as he celebrated his 31st birthday.
“I didn’t get any dad socks yet though. I’m going to speak to my son in a little bit which I’m really excited about,” Liam exclaimed. “Bless him. He’s getting so big now. He’s a big boy and he looks like a mini me. As if we needed any more me in the world.”
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