One Direction star Liam Payne was laid to rest at a private funeral attended by his family and former bandmates, one month after his death, aged 31.
Payne, who rose to fame in 2010 as a member of the biggest pop group since The Beatles, died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 16 October after falling from the third-floor balcony of his hotel room.
His funeral took place on Wednesday (20 November) at St Mary’s Church in Buckinghamshire. Ahead of the service, garlands and wreaths of flowers were arranged outside the entrance and fans and locals gathered outside to pay their respects.
Among the first mourners to arrive was Payne’s girlfriend, US influencer Kate Cassidy, who was pictured walking into the church with model Damian Hurley, the son of Elizabeth Hurley.
Payne’s One Direction bandmate Harry Styles arrived in a BMW with his friend, TV presenter and actor James Corden, while fellow 1D singers Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan all turned up separately.
Girls Aloud singers Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh – bandmates of Cheryl, Payne’s former partner and mother of their son Bear – were pictured outside the church wearing long dark coats and sunglasses.
Music mogul Simon Cowell – who created the reality TV show The X Factor on which One Direction were formed in 2010 – was pictured arriving with his fiancee, Lauren Silverman.
Silence fell over the crowds gathered outside as a horse-drawn carriage drew to a halt outside the church, bearing a dark blue coffin with silver handles, topped with white roses.
On top of the carriage, there was a red floral tribute that said “son” and a blue tribute that said “daddy” on behalf of Payne’s son, Bear.
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Payne’s parents, Geoff and Karen Payne waited next to the hearse while their son’s coffin was carried into the church.
Following the service, guests were seen leaving the venue – Cowell was pictured embracing Payne’s parents – as the coffin was placed inside the hearse and driven away.
In tributes shared following the news of Payne’s death, his One Direction bandmates praised him as a “positive, funny and kind soul” who was “an incredible songwriter with a great sense of melody”.
“I feel beyond lucky to have had you in my life but I’m really struggling with the idea of saying goodbye,” Tomlinson wrote in a statement from his Instagram account.
“I’m so grateful that we got even closer since the band, speaking on the phone for hours, reminiscing about all the thousands of amazing memories we had together is a luxury I thought I’d have with you for life… I wish I got the chance to say goodbye and tell you one more time how much I loved you.”
Malik called his former bandmate, with whom he butted heads on occasion, “headstrong [and] opinionated” and said he “never got to thank [him] for supporting me through some of the most difficult times in my life”.
“I lost a brother when you left us and 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,” he said.
“I will cherish all the memories I have with you in my heart forever, there are no words that justify or explain how I feel right now other than beyond devastated. I hope that wherever you are right now you are good and are at peace and you know how loved you are. Love you bro.”
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Payne first appeared as a contestant on the reality TV contest The X Factor in 2008 but was told by judge and show creator, Simon Cowell to come back in two years. When he returned in 2010, he was placed in One Direction alongside Styles, Horan, Malik and Tomlinson.
What followed was a combined fan and media frenzy that drew comparisons to Beatlemania – One Direction, or “1D”, sold more than 70 million records worldwide and today are considered one of the biggest boybands in music history. They released five albums, including their 2011 debut Up All Night, and won a number of awards including seven Brits and four MTV Video Music awards.
Payne referred to the time he spent in One Direction as “like uni”, but would later open up about his experiences of burnout and claustrophobia: “Cabin fever,” he told The Telegraph. “It sent me a bit AWOL at one point, if I’m honest. I can remember when there were 10,000 people outside our hotel. We couldn’t go anywhere. It was just gig to hotel, gig to hotel. And you couldn’t sleep, because they’d still be outside.”
After the band split in 2016, all five former members pursued solo careers: Payne released “Strip That Down” – co-written by Ed Sheeran – as the lead single from what would be his first and only solo album, the R&B-influenced LP1, which was released in 2019.
His last single, “Teardrops”, was released earlier this year.
Payne is survived by his parents, his two older sisters, and his son, Bear, aged seven.
