DJ Fat Tony tried to “help” Liam Payne with his “demons”.
Fat Tony tried to help Liam Payne
The 59-year-old musician – who has been sober for 18 years – was “devastated” when his friend died last October aged 31 after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Argentina, with toxicology reports finding the former One Direction star had cocaine, alcohol, and antidepressants in his system at the time.
Tony had “amazing times” with Liam when he was sober and did his best to guide him on the right path.
He told The Times Magazine: “I tried to help Liam Payne with his demons. He was incredible — a really close friend. [The singer died last year.] There were so many amazing times where he got clean and sober. Not everyone makes it. It’s a real shame what happened, falling off the balcony. I’m devastated by it.
“Addiction is a big part of our industry. People see being sober and clean as more problematic than being drunk and high. They’ll help you on that drink and drug journey, but not on the sober journey.”
At the height of his own addiction, Tony was completely “exhausted” by his life and began planning his own funeral.
He said: “I used and abused drugs for 28 years. It was a very thin line between survival and death. All I ever looked forward to was planning my own funeral. I was exhausted by life, exhausted by using.
“One night I thought, ‘I can’t do this any more.’ I got help. Now I’m 18 years [sober], which is remarkable. I didn’t have a life before. I was surviving. I have so much in my life because of the things I don’t do. I have self-respect. It’s incredible.”
While Tony tried to help Liam with his struggles, he always knew he could turn to the late George Michael – who died in December 2016 – if he himself had a problem.
He said: “If I had a problem, George Michael would be the first to help. George was always the one that would be like, “Are you OK?” He was the first person to pick up the phone. He was always there for me.”
