Bruce Springsteen says music industry puts 'enormous pressure' on young artists after Liam Payne's death

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Liam Payne's tragic death at the age of 31 prompted Bruce Springsteen to speak out about the "enormous pressure" the music industry exerts on young artists.

Payne, the former One Direction singer, plunged from the balcony on the third floor of Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday, October 16. He succumbed to the severe injuries on the spot, leaving fans across the world in tears.

Responding to the 'Polaroid' singer's untimely death, in an interview with the Telegraph, Springsteen noted that it was "not an unusual thing" in the music business.

"It's a normal thing. It's a business that puts enormous pressures on young people," the 75-year-old said.

Bruce Springsteen says young people lacked 'inner self' to deal with the aftermath of fame

Weighing in on Liam Payne's tragedy, Bruce Springsteen emphasized the struggle of young people in the industry and how they dealt with what comes along with fame.

"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," he said.

The 'Glory Days' singer added that such a situation led the young people to "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."

Payne was a teenager when he joined One Direction, which was formed in 2010, along with Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan.

According to the autopsy, the singer had “internal and external” hemorrhages and multiple fatal traumatic injuries.

Bruce Springsteen relates to Liam Payne's death, having faced his own struggles

Bruce Springsteen noted that he also underwent personal struggles battling depression.

"I understand that very well. I mean, I’ve had my own wrestling with different thing," he said.

In his memoir 'Born To Run', Springsteen gave a glimpse into how he dealt with depression and confessed he was "close to the abyss."

In a 2021 conversation with Stephen Barlett on 'The Diary Of The CEO Podcast', Payne disclosed how the One Direction fame impacted his life and worried about how far his "rock bottom" was.

He also confessed he had gone through "social anxiety" and "stress" for years due to the fame and the lack of freedom to go anyplace," as per Daily Mail.

"There's times where that level of loneliness and people getting into you every day every so often... it's like, 'When will this end?'... that's almost nearly killed me a couple of times," the late singer said at the time.

Before Payne's death, the police reached the hotel where he stayed following a call about an "aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol."

Moments later, they heard a thud from the courtyard, and at around 5:00 pm local time, the police found Payne's body.