Niall Horan and Cheryl Cole on Liam’s passing

[genbu_no_miko24]

https://instagram.com/p/DBQwk1yssQx

Comments

[quinnmorgendorf]

Omg that photo, they were children jfc.

[blandinavian]

I often think about how extremely famous they became at such a young age, and the fact that it feels like they were one of the first like… super popular bands in the age of social media. The amount of access fans had to them in the beginning was absolutely insane, and I cannot imagine it being healthy for anyone. Combine that with how young they were, and it feels like a recipe for disaster.

[pi_lady]

And add to that, that they weren't surrounded by people who had their best interests in mind, just saw them as a cash cow. I never really followed them post X Factor but remember how they would be on world tours for months and if they weren't touring, they were in recodring studios.

It's honestly a testament to how kids/teens are not equipped to be thrown into these adult environments, no matter how much they dream about becoming an entertainer. There are barely any safeguards in place and even supportive parents are often not well informed to navigate these spaces.

[kris_terror]

and if they weren't touring, they were in recodring studios.

If I remember correctly, they didn't even get this. It was that WHILE they toured, they were also recording during the day and basically would get no breaks cause the second tour ended, it was time to promote the new album

[potter_lover456]

I know there's a story of them propping mattresses up in bathrooms or something to record music? I think it was might have been in one of the docs.

[ky16]

I was thinking about their touring schedule recently before this happened and how if it happened like that today people would be pretty outraged at just how insane it was. They were on the road 9-10 months out of the year for like 4+ years straight. They’d put out one album, promote it, break for christmas, start tour and immediately start working on the next one.

[pwrpuffgrl]

Speaking of, has Simon said anything?

[kris_terror]

He made a statement today, yeah

[winter_lace]

I never followed them at all but I caught a news package that said they recorded five albums in five years and that fucking floored me. That’s insane.

[blandinavian]

Yeah, and while touring almost constantly for those five years too. Absolutely mental.

I think they kind of got caught up at the "perfect" age for being exploited like this. Too old for parents to be heavily involved, too young to really see how wrong it was and put their foot down, and just the right age to be extremely excited and want fame and fortune and have boundless energy, until you just… don't.

[rihaty]

They were also big in the early stages of social media and streaming wasn’t what it was now. So it’s kind of wild to imagine what it would be like if their success happened in today’s world with tiktok. I mean, they haven’t released music in a decade and they’re still ranked 63rd in the world on Spotify and their songs have billions of streams.