Nicole Scherzinger honored the late Liam Payne after it was revealed that the Pussycat Dolls frontwoman had been texting the former One Direction member the day he tragically died.
“Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from fifteen years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago,” Scherzinger, 46, wrote on Instagram Friday alongside two selfies of the artists with Kelly Rowland.
The “Buttons” singer said working with Payne was “such a blessing” after shooting their forthcoming Netflix competition series, “Building the Band.”
“We shared the same love and passion for music and I will forever remember the meaningful and joyful conversations we had,” she wrote.
Scherzinger shared that Payne’s sudden death has been hard to process but that she is grateful she knew his “kind heart, sweet soul and character.”
“You brought so much joy, light, and laughter to the lives of those that truly knew you,” she continued. “I will ‘miss you’ my friend and carry you in my heart. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.”
Earlier this week, legendary composer Andrew Lloyd Webber — who worked with Scherzinger on the Broadway musical “Sunset Boulevard” — revealed the “Don’t Cha” singer had been texting with Payne on the day he died.
“I suppose something that hasn’t been said, and I suppose I could say, is that of course [Scherzinger] mentored Liam from One Direction,” Webber, 76, told Billboard in an interview published Thursday, adding, “On the Wednesday when he died, she was still texting him that day.”
The impresario also divulged Scherzinger had learned of Payne’s death just moments before she took to the stage to perform in her starring role as Norma Desmond.
“She’d just heard that he died,” Webber said. “And the fact that she even did the show at all is extraordinary. I mean she is an amazing, amazing woman.
“She is without any question one of the finest performers I’ve ever worked with.”
Scherzinger met Payne in 2010 when she was one of the “X Factor” judges who banded him together with his One Direction collaborators, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan.
“They’re just too talented to get rid of, and they’ve got just the right look and the right charisma onstage,” she said at the time, according to never-before-seen footage released in 2022. “I think they’ll be really great in a boy band together.
“They’re like little stars,” Scherzinger continued. “You can’t get rid of little stars. You put them all together.”
Years later, Scherzinger and Payne joined forces again for their Netflix project, in which they were both judges. Production wrapped in August.
Payne fell to his death from the third-floor balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Oct. 16. He was 31.
The pop star had cocaine, crack and the antidepressant benzodiazepine, among other drugs, in his system when he died, according to toxicology test results.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
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