Niall Horan is mourning his former bandmate.
The Irish singer posted a heartfelt tribute to Liam Payne on social media on Friday, Oct. 18, following the news that the 31-year-old former One Direction member died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Oct. 16.
Payne died after falling multiple stories at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, Policía Federal Argentina confirmed to PEOPLE.
Sharing that he’s “absolutely devastated” by his former bandmates’ death, Horan, 31, wrote, “It just doesn’t feel real. Liam had an energy for life and a passion for work that was infectious. He was the brightest in every room and always made everyone feel happy and secure.”
“All the laughs we had over the years, sometimes about the simplest of things, keep coming to mind through the sadness,” Horan continued. “We got to live out our wildest dreams together and I will cherish every moment we had forever. The bond and friendship we had doesn’t happen often in a lifetime.”
Horan then went on to reference seeing Payne earlier this month when he attended one of Horan’s shows on his ongoing The Show: Live on Tour. Payne was at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires for Horan’s Oct. 2 performance.
“I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently. I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking,” Horan added.
The musician concluded his statement by sending his love and condolences to Payne’s family, before signing off the message, “Thank you for everything, Payno. Love you brother. Nialler.”
In fan-captured video from the concert, Payne could be seen clapping along to the music and also posing for photos and videos, per Pop Crave. Payne had told fans on Snapchat videos ahead of the concert that he and girlfriend Kate Cassidy wanted to “say hello” to Horan.
“It’s been a while since me and Niall have spoken. We’ve got a lot to talk about. And I would like to square up a couple of things with the boy. No bad vibes or anything like that. But just, um, we need to talk,” he said in a Snapchat clip reshared to X (formerly Twitter).
Horan and Payne performed together in the beloved boy band from 2010-2016. The other original members of the band included Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson. Malik left the band in 2015, ahead of Made in the A.M., which was their fifth and final album before going on an indefinite hiatus. All five went on to release solo music.
One Direction was first formed on the British singing competition TV series The X Factor, where they placed in third before eventually signing with Simon Cowell’s record label, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
Payne had reflected on his relationships with his former bandmates the year before his death as “What Makes You Beautiful,” One Direction’s first single, reached 1 billion streams.
“I’m learning about myself and what was all of this for,” he said in 2023. “But now when I listen back and think of the power we all had including you as a fanbase I’m so happy that for five years we made such a great soundtrack to life.”
Read the full article here
