On Wednesday, former One Direction members Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan attended the private funeral of their bandmate Liam Payne, who died tragically after falling from a third-floor balcony at a Buenos Aires hotel on October 16. Payne was 31.
The memorial service was held in Amersham, in Buckinghamshire, England, not far from Payne’s birthplace of Wolverhampton. Cheryl Cole, the mother of Payne’s son, Bear, and a former X Factor judge, attended the service, along with Kate Cassidy, Payne’s girlfriend at the time of his death, and ex-late night host James Corden. Payne’s coffin arrived at the church in a white horse-drawn carriage, decorated with flowers that spelled out the words “son” and “daddy.”
One Direction was formed in 2010 after Payne, Styles, Malik, Tomlinson, and Horan competed individually on the UK singing-competition program The X Factor, where they were handpicked by Simon Cowell to form a boy band. One Direction quickly cemented itself as a cultural phenomenon, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. The group released five studio albums, with major hits including “What Makes You Beautiful,” “Story of My Life,” and “Little Things.” In 2016, One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus.
Payne was reportedly unconscious when he fell from the third story of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires. According to the official autopsy released by prosecutor Andrés Madrea, Payne’s toxicology report revealed “traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescribed antidepressant.” Three individuals have been arrested and charged with “the crimes of abandonment of a person followed by death” as well as “supply and facilitation of narcotics,” per Madrea. In July 2023, a little more than a year before his death, Payne announced a renewed commitment to sobriety in a video posted to YouTube after an 100-day stint in a rehab facility.
At the time of Payne’s death, One Direction released a joint statement. “In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say,” the band wrote. “But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly. The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us. We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam.”
Each bandmate also released an individual tribute to Payne. On Instagram, Styles said that “the years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life.” In an Instagram tribute, Malik thanked Payne “for supporting me through some of the most difficult times in my life.” “I am beyond devastated to be writing this but yesterday I lost a brother,” wrote Tomlinson on social media. Horan, the One Directioner who had most recently seen Payne two weeks before at a concert in Buenos Aires, wrote, “I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking.”
