Liam Payne’s One Direction bandmates are “completely devastated” by his death, they said in a statement on the boy band’s Instagram account Thursday, a day after Payne died at a hotel in Argentina.
“In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say. But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly,” Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Harry Styles said in the statement.
余りにも早すぎるお別れでした。
リアム、沢山の思い出をありがとう。
心より哀悼の意を捧げます。 pic.twitter.com/8a5OXyC31p— One Direction Japan (@1D_OfficialJP) October 18, 2024
They added that the memories they shared “will be treasured forever.”
“For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us,” the statement said. “We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam.”
Following the band’s joint statement, Styles, Tomlinson and Malik offered their own tributes on their personal Instagram accounts, with Tomlinson and Malik saying they had lost a brother.
Styles said his friend’s “greatest joy was making other people happy, and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it.”
Read more: One Direction’s Liam Payne falls to death at Argentina hotel
“The years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life,” Styles said. “I will miss him always, my lovely friend.”
Styles said Payne “lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious,” adding that he was “warm, supportive, and incredibly loving.”
Tomlinson said Payne “was somebody I looked up to everyday, such a positive, funny, and kind soul.”
Tomlinson said he and Payne had discussed getting back in the studio together “to try and recreate the writing chemistry we had built up in the band.”
“And for the record, Liam was in my opinion the most vital part of One Direction,” Tomlinson wrote. “His experience from a young age, his perfect pitch, his stage presence, his gift for writing. The list goes on. Thank you for shaping us Liam.”
In a message to Payne, Tomlinson said, “I feel beyond lucky to have had you in my life but I’m really struggling with the idea of saying goodbye,” adding that he’s grateful they got even closer since the band went on hiatus.
In his post, Malik said that he has “found myself talking out loud” to Payne and that “I never got to thank you for supporting me through some of the most difficult times in my life.”
He called his friend “headstrong, opinionated” and said he “secretly respected” Payne throughout all of the times they butted heads.
“I was always happy to know, no matter what happened on stage we could always rely on you to know which way to steer the ship next,” Malik wrote.
Malik said he “can’t explain to you what I’d give to just give you a hug one last time and say goodbye to you properly and tell you that I loved and respected you dearly.”
“I hope that wherever you are right now you are good and are at peace and know how loved you are,” he said.
One Direction shot to international stardom after it formed on “The X Factor” in 2010. The group has been on indefinite hiatus since 2016. Malik left the band before it went on hiatus.
Since their split, the band members have embarked on solo careers. Payne signed with Republic Records in 2016.
One Direction sold more than 50 million records throughout its stint in the spotlight, and in 2014, it became the first group to have its first four albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, according to Billboard.
Payne, 31, died Wednesday after he fell from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina, local authorities said.
Sistema de Atencion Medica de Emergencia (SAME), the emergency health service, said Payne fell from the balcony in Palermo.
Police were called to the hotel for reports of an aggressive man, according to the emergency services agency, which later confirmed Payne’s death.