Liam Payne death latest: Singer’s sister pays tribute after Cheryl releases statement

Both in the band and out of it, the pop star struggled to find his defining identity, writes The Independent’s Mark Beaumont. Attempts at telling the world who he is with a second solo album and a documentary fell on deaf ears. His life now cut tragically short, the singer may remain elusive forever.

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The anti-anxiety medication Clonazepam was among the medications found in singer Liam Payne’s hotel room before he died.

A toxicology report is still pending but police found over the counter medication and Clonazepam in his room.

Liam Payne’s sister, Ruth Gibbins, paid tribute to her brother in a moving social media post, writing: “I don’t believe this is happening. Many times have I poured my heart out publicly with pride about Liam but never much about life as his sister.

“Liam is my best friend, no one could ever make me laugh as much as him, doing his impressions always had me creasing and he loved seeing how much of a laugh he could get.

“Liam, my brain is struggling to catch up with what’s happening and I don’t understand where you’ve gone. What I do love most about you is your ability to make me laugh, I never chuckle as much as I do when I’m with you with anyone else.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. One last time I need you to know, I’m here if you need anything, I’d drive to the end of the universe to bring you back.

I don’t feel this world was good enough or kind enough to you, and quite often over the last few years, you’ve had to really try hard to overcome all that was being aimed at you.

“You just wanted to be loved and to make people happy with your music. You never believed you were good enough, I hope you can now see this outpouring of love that you never received in your time.”

For the next six years, One Direction experienced a level of fame not seen since Beatlemania: screaming, hysterical fans; paparazzi; intrusive tabloid stories. After the band split in 2016 following a final farewell tour, each of the five members pursued solo careers with varying degrees of success.

Somewhat surprisingly, Payne – who had long-harboured ambitions of being a singer like his idols, Justin Timberlake, Usher and Chris Brown – admitted in 2017 that he had doubts about going solo. “I was just going to go into songwriting and carry on and do that,” he told Billboard. “But then I was like, ‘You’ve been trying to do this since you were 14 years old. You would be ridiculously stupid to turn down the option to have a deal.’ Coming out of the band, we had some pretty good opportunities around us. I had to do something.”