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Celebrity birthdays: Liam Payne turns 21

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Happy birthday, Liam Payne! As the One Direction star turns 21, HELLO! Online takes a look at what the stars have in store for Liam and you...

This is what Liam, who is a Virgo, can be expecting today:Tomorrow has not been cancelled due to lack of interest. Nor have we humans had it forfeited from us by some disapproving cosmic entity. Tomorrow is on its way and, contrary to the popular misconception, it will come. Will you be ready for it? Will you embrace it with enthusiasm and accept it as the generous gift from a benign universe that it undoubtedly, actually, is? Think good thoughts about the possibilities that await you this weekend and beyond. You will yet find that your positive expectations are justified.

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Liam Payne© Photo: Getty Images

Liam was born on 29 August 1993 in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. When he was very young, he was diagnosed with a scarred and dysfunctional kidney and had to take painkilling injections every morning.

But amazingly in 2012, Liam – who is tee-total because of his health problems – was surprised to find that both kidneys were now firing on all cylinders.

As a child, the charming singer was picked on and he turned to boxing as a way of defending himself. "I was, at 12-years-old, fighting the 38-year-old trainer. I broke my nose, had a perforated eardrum and I was always coming home with a bruised, puffy face," he recalled. "But it gave me confidence. I got pretty good over the next couple of years".In 2008, when he was 14, Liam auditioned for the fifth series of The X Factor.

His rendition of Fly Me To The Moon impressed both Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh, but Simon Cowell was initially unsure, saying there was "something not quite right, there's about 20 per cent missing". He was told to come back in two years' time.

Liam returned for series seven of the show. This time he sang Cry me A River, and received a standing ovation from the audience and Simon. Again he made it through the initial stages, only to be rejected as a solo act. Liam's dreams of stardom seemed all but over – until guest judge Nicole Scherzinger threw him a lifeline.

Along with four other 'rejects' – Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan – he was invited to form a band, and One Direction was born.

The boys were an instant hit, eventually finishing the show in third place. Immediately afterwards they signed to Simon's Syco record label. In September 2011, they were ready to unveil their first single, What Makes You Beautiful, which entered the charts at number one.

Since then they have proved unstoppable – picking up Brit and MTV Music awards, embarking on two huge tours and performing at the London 2012 Olympics. The star is currently dating former class-mate Sophia Smith.