One Direction won big at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards, bringing home the Best New Artist award and Best Pop Video and Most Share-Worthy Video award for their song “What Makes You Beautiful.”

Payne co-wrote over 30 songs for the group at the height of their fame.

Rumors began to circulate the band was going to break up with Zayn Malik announcing he was leaving in 2015. At the time, the band released a statement saying, “Niall, Harry, Liam and Louis will continue as a four-piece and look forward to the forthcoming concerts of their world tour and recording their fifth album, due to be released later this year.”

In total, the band released five studio albums (with Malik appearing in four) featuring hits such as “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Story of My Life.”

After the band announced they were taking an extended hiatus in 2016, each member signed their own recording deals and released at least one studio album as a solo artist. Payne signed a solo deal with Capitol Records’ U.K. division, roughly one month after former bandmate Harry Styles signed a recording contract with Colombia Records.

Payne recorded across many different music genres, including pop, hip-hop, Latin, and electronic music. He released his first single, “Strip That Down,” with Migos Quavos in May 2017. His debut studio album “LP1” came out in December 2019.

Since his studio album dropped, he released three songs and also went through a turbulent personal period. In a video posted last year titled “I’m back…,” Payne apologized to his fans for being “MIA” and he had to take some time out for himself.

“I had to go away to get better,” he said.