One Direction Members—Including Zayn Malik, Harry Styles—Issue Statements On Liam Payne’s Death

Topline

All four members of the former pop boy band One Direction have shared tributes to their late bandmate, Liam Payne, following what officials called a drug- and alcohol-fueled fatal fall from a hotel balcony in Argentina earlier this week.

Key Facts

Payne, who was seen at a Niall Horan concert in Buenos Aires two weeks before his death in the same city, "was the brightest in every room and always made everyone feel happy and secure," Horan wrote on Instagram Friday.

Horan described Payne as having "an energy for life and a passion for work that was infectious," and called his death "heartbreaking."

Harry Styles, whose solo career took off following the band's split, remembered Payne as someone who "lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve" and as "warm, supportive and incredibly loving."

Zayn Malik shared a throwback photo of himself and Payne as teenagers and admitted that while they "butted heads" over the course of their relationship, "I will cherish all the memories I have with you in my heart forever, there is [sic] no words that justify or explain how I feel right now other than beyond devastated."

Louis Tomlinson on Thursday posted a photo with Payne taken on stage alongside a lengthy caption calling him as "the most vital part of One Direction” and promising to look out for Payne's 7-year-old son Bear by being the "uncle he needs in his life and tell him stories of how amazing his dad was.”

All four surviving members of One Direction also posted a group statement to the band's Instagram account Thursday that had amassed 12 million likes as of Friday morning, saying they are "completely devastated" by Payne's death and will "take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly."

Key Background

Payne, 31, died Wednesday after falling from the third-floor balcony of his room at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires. The National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday said he died from multiple traumas, internal and external hemorrhage, and said its investigation revealed drugs and alcohol were found in his hotel room. The investigation so far indicates the musician was under the influence and alone when he fell, prosecutors said. Police had been called to the hotel that evening after the hotel's manager placed an emergency 911 call complaining about a guest “under the influence of drugs and alcohol” who had “destroyed some objects in the room.” The manager also expressed concern that the guest “has a balcony, and we are afraid they might do something to put their life at risk," according to the BBC. Another guest of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel at the same time as Payne told People they heard "a lot of noise" coming from his room, including "a really loud, violent scream." Payne was open about his struggle with addition in recent years and admitted he'd had suicidal thoughts while a member of One Direction. In 2023, Payne said he'd spent 100 days in rehab getting sober. He had a son in 2017 with Cheryl Cole and had four songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist.

Tangent

Payne, Styles, Horan, Malik and Tomlinson were put together into a band called One Direction by judges on the British show “The X Factor” in 2010. After the show—which they did not win—they skyrocketed to international fame with five platinum albums, 29 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and four headlining concert tours.The band was commonly referred to as the Beatles of a new generation and credited with sparking a new “British invasion” alongside Adele in the U.S. music industry. Malik left the group in 2015 and the band went on indefinite hiatus in January 2016, with all five members continuing to pursue solo careers.

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