HE was once seen as one of the most promising members of One Direction, hot on the heels of superstar Harry Styles.
But despite his solo career getting off to a bumper start thanks to Ed Sheeran penning his hit Strip That Down, Liam Payne‘s career now appears to be going off course.
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We have been told plans to release his long awaited second album – his first since 2019’s LP1 – have been quietly put on ice after his first single from the record, Teardrops, failed to chart back in March.
To make things harder for Liam, his day-to-day manager is no longer working with him after parting ways earlier this year.
Those closest to Liam are concerned he has been left floundering, with no one watching out for him.
A friend said: “Things are tough for Liam at the moment.
“His former manager Roger stepped back earlier this year. He was a steady hand for Liam and he appears to be struggling without his guidance.
“Things have started to seem slightly erratic, with plans being made before they are cancelled last minute.
“Liam had been doing really well on his second album but now it’s completely on pause. Liam is telling people now he has no idea if it’ll ever be released.”
The latest blow to his album comes just weeks after music insiders told us a planned documentary about Liam’s struggle with growing up in the spotlight had been shelved.
The film was going to chart Liam’s well-documented tussle with the trappings and fame and fortune.
In June 2021 he opened up about struggling with drink and drugs and admitted he was shocked after seeing pictures of himself, adding: “I was all bloated out. I call it my pills-and-booze face.”
He checked himself into a rehab facility the following year and last summer he proudly said he was 100 days sober and was busy working on new projects.
Liam said: “I was having a drink, and I thought, ‘You know what, this isn’t really serving me at all, I don’t really need this right now,’
“It’s the first time I’ve ever put a drink down and gone to someone else, ‘You finish this, I don’t need this right now.’
Things are tough for Liam at the moment
A friend
“And I haven’t picked one up since, which has almost been six months.
He added: “I feel like I’ve got more of a grip on life now and everything that was getting away from me, I just feel like I’ve got more of a handle on it.
“I just needed to take a little bit of time out for myself actually because
“I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognise anymore. It’s good to be in this position. I definitely don’t need those things anymore. The party’s over.”
Fame and fortune is really not all it’s cracked up to be.