‘Just a boy’ – tributes paid to Liam Payne, dead at 31
BBCCelebrities have paid tribute to the former One Direction star Liam Payne, after his “devastating” death aged 31.
The pop star, who found fame on The X Factor in 2010, died after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina, police say.
Following his death at around 17:00 (21:00 BST; 20:00 GMT) on Wednesday, stars expressed their upset and posted memories of the dad who shared a son, Bear, with former partner Girls Aloud star Cheryl.
Dermot O’Leary, who hosted The X Factor when Liam appeared, posted a photograph of the pair on stage, captioning the Instagram post: “The worst news.”
“I remember him as a 14-year-old turning up to audition on The X Factor, and blowing us away singing Sinatra. He just loved to sing,” he wrote.
“He was always a joy, had time for everyone, polite, grateful, and was always humble.”
Liam was one of five members of One Direction, along with Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles.
Harry’s mother Anne Twist also paid tribute, posting a broken-hearted emoji on Instagram, captioning it: “Just a boy.”
Singer Olly Murs, who starred on The X Factor a year before One Direction, said he was “lost for words”, describing Payne’s death as “devastating” on Instagram.
Olly said: “We always had a good laugh when we saw each other, sometimes the catch ups were only short and sweet but when we did it was mostly about how annoyingly good his hair always looked, or our love for Becks, the old XF [X Factor] days and the tour we shared together.
“Liam shared the same passions as me, the same dreams so to see his life now end so young hits hard, I’m truly gutted and devastated for his family and of course his son Bear losing a dad.”
PA Media
The Wanted star Max George described his death as “absolutely devastating news”.
“Over the last few years I had the pleasure of getting to know him personally and spent some treasured time with him,” he said on Instagram.
“Liam was absolutely wonderful in terms of support when Tom [Parker] fell ill, performing at the Royal Albert Hall with us for Stand Up To Cancer.
“He supported me a lot personally after Tom passed. I will never forget that.”
US singer Charlie Puth, a co-writer on Payne’s 2017 song Bedroom Floor, said he was in “shock” after Payne’s death.
Charlie posted images of the pair working together, alongside the caption “Liam was always so kind to me”.
PA Media
“He was one of the first major artists I got to work with. I cannot believe he is gone… I am so upset right now, may he rest in peace.”
On X, Rylan Clark, who was also a X Factor contestant, said the death was “so tragic” , while Jedward sent their condolences to Cheryl, his son Bear and “all the One Direction family”.
Socialite Paris Hilton also paid tribute on X, calling the singer’s death “so upsetting”.
DJ and music producer Zedd, who featured alongside Payne on the 2017 song Get Low, called the singer’s death “absolutely heartbreaking”.
American singer and rapper Ty Dolla Sign said he would “miss” Payne, captioning videos and pictures on his Instagram story: “Just talked to you two days ago my guy.”
