Boy George recently reflected on a remark he made about Liam Payne before his tragic passing last October. During an appearance on the podcast High Performancethe singer recalled coming across a video of the late musician performing and commenting, “he's out of his mind.” George admitted the comment “wasn't very nice” but claimed it was a reflection of what he had perceived. “I heard it,” he said. “I felt he was out of control.”
George and Payne didn't appear to have any kind of communication, save for a brief Twitter spat way back in 2013. But having been active in the music industry for more than four decades, George has been around long enough to recognize patterns and personally experience a series of difficulties. When he heard the news of Payne's death, one of the first artists to come to mind was Amy Winehouse.
“When it happened, it hit me the same way Amy Winehouse dying hit me,” he said. “It seemed so senseless to me. I was up at five in the morning, and the story came on the American news, and I literally thought, what the fuck? Like, no, that's not true. I couldn't understand it, and I think everyone felt that way.”
George took to social media following Payne's death, sharing a post that read: “How sad the death of Liam Payne is. This is horrible news. God bless his family. I am absolutely shocked. RIP»
While appearing on the podcast, George recalled seeing “heartbreaking” images of the young artist's father visiting the Argentina hotel where Payne died after falling from a balcony. He also recalled being horrified by comments accusing him of caring about the tragedy only “because it's trendy.”
“Fuck you, you're an idiot,” George replied. “I care about his family, I felt very sad.”
