While the boy band went on to achieve phenomenal success across the globe, Payne himself acknowledged that it came at a cost.
He admitted he used alcohol to cope with the level of fame “because there was no other way to get your head around what was going on”.
US star Bruce Springsteen is among those who have now spoken about the negative impact of the pressures of fame in recent days.
He told the Daily Telegraph, external that “young people don’t have the inner facility or the inner self yet to be able to protect themselves from a lot of the things that come with success and fame”.
“So they get lost in a lot of the difficult and often pain-inducing [things]… whether it’s drugs or alcohol to take some of that pressure off,” he said.
“I understand this very well from my own experience, as I have done my own wrestling with different things.”
Robbie Williams also acknowledged that he struggled with his own demons when he was 31. “By the grace of god and/or dumb luck I’m still here,” he said.
The former Take That star called for more kindness and empathy from the public towards famous figures who might be going through difficulties. “Even famous strangers need your compassion,” he wrote.
Could the music industry do more to help fledgling artists, and are things now changing?