It has always been Liam Payne’s dream to be an international recording artist, after he first sang in public at the age of just 5. Liam grew up in Wolverhampton and studied music technology at the City of Wolverhampton College.

He first auditioned for the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008 in Birmingham, and narrowly missed out on competing in the live finals after being selected to attend the judges houses.

Simon Cowell thought Liam was not ready for the competition back then and asked him to come back in a couple of years.

Liam did return two years later and his audition song "Cry Me a River" received a standing ovation from the audience and Simon. He was teamed up with fellow band members Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Liam Tomlinson and Niall Horan to form One Direction.

The band finished third overall and secured a record deal with Simon’s music label SyCo.

Since the show One Direction have become huge and their upward spiral looks set to continue for some time.