For millions of One Route fans around the world, the news that the band would be going their separate ways in January 2016 marked the end of an era.
But for Liam Payne, it offered an unbeatable opportunity. Here, finally, was the chance to break free from “the clutches” of the very man who had orchestrated her rise to global stardom.
That man, of course, was music mogul Simon Cowell, who had plucked the five boys from obscurity to form the band on ITV's The X Issue in 2010, and who, for six years, had controlled the band. most aspects of their lives.
And of the five, it was telling that Liam, then just 22, decided he wanted to get rid of his once mentor.
While his bandmates Harry Kinds, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson signed deals with music labels owned by Sony (One Route's label) where Cowell remained highly influential, Liam made the decision to take another route. He agreed to a multimillion-dollar contract with rival Capitol Data and a new manager to boot.
Liam Payne and Simon Cowell in 2013. The two men had little to do with each other after the One Route boys went their separate ways.
“Liam was delighted to get rid of Cowell and Sony,” reveals a source close to the late singer. “It gave me the new beginning I needed.”
His rush to escape Cowell's orbit was indicative of the increasingly fractured (and ultimately nonexistent) relationship between Liam and his former boss.
The truth is that the two men had little to do with each other after the band went their separate ways. Cowell himself seemed to hint that things hadn't exactly been rosy between the couple in the statement he issued last week.
Two days after the singer fell to his death from a balcony at the CasaSur Resort in Buenos Aires, Cowell, 65, wrote on his Instagram page: “You never really know how you feel about someone until a moment like this happens.” . “Liam, I am devastated.”
Was it tinged with regret? That remains unclear. But what is very obvious is that when he left Sony, Liam was glad to no longer be under Cowell's management, where his friends say he felt like a “caged animal.”
And he seemed to enjoy finally being able to meet the tycoon's demands.
Tearful fans gathered in London yesterday to mourn the star after he fell to his death from a balcony at the CasaSur Resort in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.
After all, it was Liam who orchestrated the band's decision not to reform on stage at The X Issue in December 2016, 11 months after their split, despite Cowell's request to do so. That night, Louis was due to perform on the show, launching his solo career, but he arrived just days after his mother, Johannah Deakin, died of cancer.
Cowell had summoned his former bandmates to London and they appeared on stage to support Louis.
The band decided to return (Liam had been in New York) but, they insisted, they would not appear on stage. “The fact that it was so beneficial for Simon to have the whole band back together in his present was irritating to Liam,” says a friend who describes him as “very direct and assertive when it came to what he felt was right.” . 'As far as Liam was concerned, he was typical Simon. Simon said you jump, the boys had to ask how high.
Instead, the four arrived at the television studio at Wembley to support Louis behind the scenes.
Yet how different it had been six years earlier, when the band formed on the show in front of millions. With their first album selling 4.5 million copies worldwide in 2011, One Route quickly became a big moneymaker for Cowell's Syco label (partly owned by Sony).
But the music mogul's high standards came at a cost. “Liam and the boys couldn't go out and do what other kids their age were doing,” said a music industry source. 'They were sources of income, pure and simple. However, there seemed to be little concern for the band's mental health and how it would affect them in the future.
Without a doubt, his schedule was exhausting. The band performed an average of one concert every two days during their Take Me Dwelling tour in 2013, playing 124 dates between February and November.
Things began to fall apart in March 2015, when Zayn Malik left the band in the middle of a world tour after battling stress. But if Liam was hoping the penny would drop with Cowell and ease the pressure on the remaining members, it didn't.
Perhaps inevitably, the band went on an indefinite hiatus, which became permanent, ten months later.
As for Cowell, he is of the opinion that he gave One Route their fame and £30m fortunes, and warned them of the demands that would be made on them and the toll their fame would take on them.
Liam and Cowell met last year “just to talk,” the mogul revealed. But was it all too little, too late? As a friend said: 'It all seemed very exciting at first. “Those around Liam simply wish there had been more support at the time.”
No one will ever know how much that could have helped.