Liam Payne struggles with ‘failure’ amid 'One Direction' bandmates' success

Liam Payne, the late One Direction popstar, seemingly had a hard time chasing success after disbandment.

The musician’s song writing partner and former Ordinary Boys singer Sam Preston, in an interview with the Rolling Stone, opened about Payne’s struggles of being compared with his former bandmates.

"To see his bandmates and have that direct comparison it’s unavoidable for him to see that all the time," he said.

"And if there was someone who’s prone to addictive, problematic behaviour, then I think that’s just a very difficult situation to be in."

After the band went on indefinite hiatus in 2016, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan went on to pursue their solo career while Louis Tomlinson released his debut album after three years.

As the other group members instantly found success with their individual projects, Payne also collaborated with Preston to work on his solo music. 

However, the Ordinary Boy popstar admitted that Payne put pressure on himself to match his former counterparts.

"He was like, 'Well, I have to be the most successful male solo artist, or I’m a failure.' But that’s an almost impossible task," he told the outlet.

Despite of Payne’s eagerness to be equal to his peers, Preston noted that, "You could sense there was a real brilliance to him that he was almost afraid of letting people see. He was such a talented musician, and he could allow himself to be so raw."

Liam Payne died last year on October 16th, after falling from balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the age of 31. His cause of death was listed as "multiple traumas."