Liam Payne

Liam James Payne - born 29 August 1993 (age 19), is from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. Born three weeks early to mother Karen and father Geoff,he has two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola. Until the age of four, Payne had regular tests done in hospital as doctors noticed one of his kidneys was scarred and dysfunctional. To help cope with the pain, he had 32 injections in his arm in the morning and evening as a child. As a student, Payne was heavily involved in sports. Payne was bullied in secondary school and took up boxing lessons at the age of twelve. He was a music technology student at City of Wolverhampton College.

From the age of six, Liam had already started showing signs of singing talent. He would sing for his relatives or pub crowds on karaoke. However, he had his heart set on becoming an Olympic runner, and was a member of the Wolverhampton and Bilston Athletics Club. He would wake up at 5am every day to run five miles before school. His running dream ended at 14 years old when he narrowly missed out on a spot in the England schools team. At that point, he decided to completely focus on his singing, although he still loved his football club, West Bromwich Albion.
 
Payne first auditioned in 2008 to The X Factor's fifth series when he was fourteen. He made it to the judges' houses, but Cowell thought he was not ready for the competition and asked him to come back in two years. In 2010, Liam returned and auditioned with "Cry Me a River". He received a standing ovation from the audience and Simon. He got a yes from all four judges present at the audition.