What Greg Laurie Wishes He Could Have Told Late Singer Liam Payne
By Movieguide® Contributor
In an all-too-common story, the world was shocked to learn former One Direction singer Liam Payne died after falling off a third-story balcony in a Buenos Aires hotel.
The 31-year-old battled drug and alcohol addictions and initial findings revealed alcohol and drugs in his system at the time of his death.
Harvest Church’s Pastor Greg Laurie shared his insights into why so many celebrities, like Payne, who seem to have it all, end up with lives “spinning out of control.”
“This is nothing new,” Laurie said. “We can go all the way back to King Solomon, who had power, wealth, and fame. He had every pleasure his world could offer. But even with that, he said he looked at everything he had accomplished and it was all emptiness.”
The pastor went on to say, “I think when you’re trying to climb that ladder of success, whatever you perceive it to be, you feel that once you get to the top, you’ll be happy and content. But when someone makes it to the top, they find out there’s nothing there.”
Payne said that the long hours of touring led to his addiction. He recalled that being stuck in hotel rooms between performances added to the temptation.
“In the band…the best way to secure us, because of how big we’d got, was just to lock us in our rooms. What’s in the room? A mini-bar,” he admitted in one interview.
“So at a certain point I thought, I’m just going to have a party-for-one and that seemed to carry on for many years of my life,” he added.
Payne appeared in good spirits after his time in rehab in 2023 where he posted a video for his fans.
“It’s good to be in this position,” he said. “I definitely don’t need those things anymore. The party’s over.”
He also shared another motivation for sobriety was to be there for his son Bear, 7.
“There’s no point trying to be a dad when you’ve nothing to teach,” he said. “I don’t think up until this point I really had much to say to him other than just caring for him deeply and loving him very deeply, which are obviously the most important things.”
On Oct. 16, his son would be left without a father.
Laurie shared an eerily prophetic quote.
“I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where’s rock bottom for me?” Liam said. “And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. No one would have ever of seen it. But rock bottom…I mean, I don’t even know if I’ve hit it yet.”
Laurie told the audience that God “made His creation subject to emptiness.”
“It’s an emptiness that only He can fill. Drugs, alcohol or even relationships won’t fill that hole in our lives,” Laurie said.
He added, “Everyone’s also lonely. Even the people with a lot of social media followers still feel lonely and isolated. Or in a crowded room, the loneliness remains. That’s because it’s a loneliness for God Himself.”
Laurie went on the share the gospel with John 3:16 and John 11: 25-26:
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”
He concluded the video by saying: “I wish I could have shared this message with Liam Payne, but I can still share it with you. What you’re truly looking for in life is a relationship with God. Nothing else will fill the void deep inside of you.”
Jennifer Weiner of the New York Times wrote about the detrimental consequences of children having that level of fame as Payne did as a teenager.
“The effects [of fame] can be particularly destabilizing when the star in question is still just a kid. And all too often, the people who should be looking out for these valuable, vulnerable quantities are, instead, cashing in,” Weiner wrote.
READ MORE: CAN KIDS BE STARS? WHAT LIAM PAYNE’S DEATH REVEALS ABOUT CHILD FAME
