LONDON, Oct 21 — Fans mourning Liam Payne’s death turned out across Britain and beyond at organised vigils yesterday, with at least 1,000 gathering in central London to pay tribute to the former One Direction star. It came four days after Payne died aged 31 following a fall from the balcony of his Buenos Aires hotel room, prompting an outpouring of grief and condolences from family, former bandmates, fans and others. Investigators have said he appeared to have been “going through an episode of substance abuse”.
Those at the London memorial at the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park were encouraged in social media posts to bring “flowers, letters, balloons, pictures” and did not disappoint. Gathering in the rain under umbrellas bearing those things and more, the crowd of mainly young people sang One Direction songs after also standing in silence for periods. “He was such a big part of our childhood—we just came to pay our respect,” student Katie Etchells, 20, wearing a One Direction t-shirt, told AFP.
She was one of many who said that they at first thought word of his death was “fake news”, calling the realisation it was true “very upsetting”. “I think he’ll be happy to know that so many people does love him,” a tearful Luna Franco, 20, from Italy, told AFP. ‘Unify’ Musician Shukhrat Turdikhodjaev, 21, said he had gone from “disbelief at first” to shock on hearing Payne had died.
He added the turnout showed that the singer “was able to conne.