Liam Payne’s father has expressed gratitude to fans for their support following the singer’s sudden death at the age of 31, after he reportedly fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.
Geoff Payne arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday, 18 October, to make arrangements for his son’s body to be returned to the UK. He was seen outside the hotel, reading tributes and kissing photos of his son left by fans.
Payne’s former One Direction bandmates shared that they were “devastated” by the news, while Cheryl, the mother of Payne’s 7-year-old son Bear, expressed her grief, calling it an “indescribably painful time.”
Liam Payne, who rose to fame after joining One Direction on The X Factor in 2010 alongside Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson, was remembered by his bandmates as a “kind, funny, and brave soul.”
A preliminary autopsy report revealed Payne’s cause of death on Thursday, 17 October. Photos from his hotel room showed the space in disarray, with a smashed TV and debris scattered throughout the room.