Liam Payne hospitalized for kidney infection, cancels upcoming concerts: 'Need to rest'

Liam Payne was hospitalized due to a kidney infection, causing him to cancel his six scheduled concerts in Mexico and across South America.

"It’s with a heavy heart I have to tell you that we have no other choice but to postpone my upcoming tour of South America," Payne shared in an Instagram post Friday. "Over the past week I’ve been in hospital with a serious kidney infection, it’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and doctors orders are that I now need to rest and recover."

In the 30-second video, Payne explained that he's "been advised that now is really not the time to be out on the road trying to recover from this. I've got the best people at home trying to help me recover as we speak."

Fans should look out for ticket refunds and stay tuned for rescheduled shows planned for "as soon as we possibly can," according to Payne's caption.

"I was beyond excited to come play for you guys. To all of you who have bought tickets: I’m so sorry," he wrote.

The former One Direction member, who turns 30 next week, was scheduled to perform in Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico for nearly two weeks in September.

Liam Payne has a history of kidney issues

In the boyband's earlier days, Payne was known as the member of the group who didn't drink due to only having one working kidney after being born prematurely, as he explained in interviews.

But in 2012, he announced on X, formerly Twitter, that he actually had two working kidneys after the other one "fixed" itself.

In a 2021 interview with "The Diary of a CEO" podcast, Payne opened up about the fact that he "didn't like myself very much" during his early boy band days, which he said were filled with "pills and booze" and "moments of suicidal ideation."

"The day the band ended, I was like, 'Thank the Lord,'" he added. "I know a lot of people are going to be mad at me for saying that, but I needed to stop or it would kill me."

Payne, who catapulted to fame alongside Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik after being formed into a band on "The X Factor" in 2010, said he struggled with alcoholism at the peak of the band's success, when he spent a lot of time traveling during four world tours.

"In the band... the best way to secure us, because of how big we’d got, was just to lock us in our rooms. What’s in the room? A mini-bar," he said. "So at a certain point I thought, I’m just going to have a party-for-one and that seemed to carry on for many years of my life. Then you look back at how long you’ve been drinking and you’re like, 'Jesus Christ, that's a long time.'"

One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, a year after Malik left the band.

"It was toxic":Liam Payne says he was addicted to "pills and booze" during One Direction fame

Liam Payne shares sobriety update, nervousness about performing 'without anything to lean on'

The star has been open about his struggle with addiction since his One Direction days.

In a YouTube video he posted last month, Payne returned to the platform and shared that he'd realized he had "became somebody who I didn't really recognize anymore."

"I had to kind of go away to kind of get better, let's say. The whole thing got to that point of where it was just to kind of scramble to stay relevant," he said.

"That was the most important bit, was going back to the root of it to find out why it is I like doing this, why I like making music for you guys. Who am I? What do I actually want to say to you? You know, it's a really privileged position that I'm in right now. And I actually want to make use of it."

He revealed that he'd gone to a "wonderful place" in Louisiana for nearly 100 days to "kind of go and get my head straight." Payne also hadn't picked up an alcoholic drink in nearly six months, he said.

He described himself as being "a little bit scared" to tour again because "I haven't road tested (performing) in this new frame of mind and not having anything to lean on does sound quite daunting."

Contributing: Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY

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