“A overwhelming majority of One Path followers turned followers of their teen years and younger maturity,” stated Georgia Carroll, a sociologist and skilled on fan and celeb tradition who turned a “Directioner” in 2011 on the age of 17.
“Throughout this time, individuals are going by means of important intervals of change and transformation, and the celebrities they love throughout this time can operate as anchors in in any other case chaotic occasions,” she defined. “You’re going by means of friendship modifications, first crushes and heartbreaks, ending faculty and heading to college, however your favourite band might be the fixed and a supply of pleasure and happiness and belonging.”
Carroll famous that Payne was solely 31, across the similar age of lots of his followers, who wouldn’t count on to lose a peer of their era so quickly, particularly with out warning. Questions concerning the nature of his loss of life amid ongoing investigations additionally add to the sense of loss and feeling untethered.
One 29-year-old fan, Bailey V., advised HuffPost she was fully shocked by the information.
“I idolized One Path once I was youthful,” she stated. “Not solely have been they tremendous cute and I had an enormous crush on all of them, however ‘What Makes You Stunning’ and ‘Greatest Tune Ever’ are key core reminiscence tracks of that point in my life. Listening to information about celebs who performed such a huge impact on our lives in earlier years appears like listening to this information about an previous good friend.”
The loss of life of a musician you really liked as a young person and younger grownup prompts highly effective emotions of nostalgia.