Liam James Payne born 29 August 1993 is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the band One Direction. In 2016, Payne signed a recording deal with Capitol Records as a solo artist, and with Republic Records in the United States.

Payne made his debut as a singer when he auditioned as a solo artist for the British television series The X Factor in 2008 with "Fly Me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra. Though cut by Simon Cowell following judge's house, Payne was encouraged to audition again. He reauditioned as a solo artist in 2010, where he was put into a group along with four other contestants, to form the boy band that would later become known as One Direction. Since joining the band, Payne, along with bandmates Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles and former bandmate Zayn Malik, have released five commercially successful albums, performed on four worldwide tours, one featured on concert film One Direction: This Is Us, and won multiple awards, including two BRIT Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards.

Payne has worked independently under the monikers "Big Payno" and "Payno" creating remixes for songs by his band and singer Cheryl. On 19 May 2017, Payne released his debut single "Strip That Down", the lead single from his upcoming debut solo album.