One Direction found fame inside a nondescript North London TV studio, next to a McDonald’s and opposite a kebab shop — and I had a front row seat for the making of the world’s biggest boy band.

He runs 1D Alert, an X account dedicated to One Direction news and updates with over 300,000 followers. To Azar, and so many others, the band provided an escape from depression and bullying.

Former One Direction singer Liam Payne, one-fifth of the British boy band, died outside a hotel in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, local police confirmed Wednesday. He was 31.