One Direction has shot up the Spotify streaming charts after Liam Payne’s tragic death aged 31 last week.
The band – also featuring Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan – has been on hiatus since 2016 but maintained a loyal fanbase on the music platform while each member launched their solo career.
Earlier this month, One Direction reached an impressive high of 42 million monthly listeners, making them one of the biggest inactive groups in the world.
But after Payne’s death last week, after he fell from his hotel balcony in Argentina, fans are mourning by returning to the band’s most profound, and biggest hits. As a result the monthly listeners stat has now hit 50.7m, an all-time high.
This is matched by their ranking in Spotify’s charts. Following the news the band jumped from number 55 to number two in the daily global artist chart, per Forbes.
And, as of this week, they have five songs in the daily global song chart, with the 2014 song Night Changes peaking at number six (with 4.6m streams), followed by Story of My Life, Perfect and What Makes You Beautiful all re-entering the top 100.
The boyband’s skyrocketing Spotify figures are also reflected in the mainstream charts. According to Billboard, the group’s catalogue jumped from 21.3m global streams on October 16 to 84.9mthe next day.
Once more, Night Changes was the most played. It also saw a spike in the TikTok trending charts and the song currently has 740.9k videos under the sound.
One Direction fans have rallied together in this difficult time to support one another.
‘Upon learning of Payne’s death, the only place I wanted to be was on the internet, wrapping virtual arms around the online pals I’ve acquired since joining Twitter far too young and in a space where I knew my complex grief would be validated,’ Metro’s showbiz reporter Emily Bashforth reflected.
‘I know everyone else felt the same, as One Direction fan accounts who have been dormant for years resurrected and I received messages from people I haven’t spoken to in just as long.
‘That’s always been the beauty of the band, for me.’
Payne’s former bandmates have all paid tribute to the late singer and father-of-one in poignant social media posts, including a joint statement saying they were all ‘completely devastated’ by his sudden death.
The late music artist has attended one of Horan’s concerts while in Argentina, and the pair shared photos from the night.
‘I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking,’ the Slow Hands singer wrote in his individual tribute post.
Payne’s family, friends and fellow musicians have flocked to honour his life and legacy online including his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, former X Factor mentor Simon Cowell and artists such as Charlie Puth.
Most recently, Justin Bieber shared a fanmade tribute to Payne on his Instagram story with the caption ‘Rest easy Liam.’
Meanwhile, earlier this week Payne was commemorated at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s memorials at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
An initial toxicology report has found that Payne had several drugs in his system at the time of his death, according to several sources. Payne’s father Geoff is currently in Argentina as authorities continue to investigate his death.
Payne is survived by his seven-year-old son Bear, whom he shared with ex-partner Cheryl.
She issued her own statement about this ‘earth-shattering event’, urging people to remember ‘that we have lost a human being’.
The message continued: ‘Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7-year-old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again.’