One Direction break the silence: tribute to Liam Payne

One Direction break their silence after the death of Liam Payne and publish a joint statement to pay homage to the 31-year-old British singer, who passed away last Wednesday after falling from the balcony of his room on the third floor of the hotel where he was staying in Buenos Aires. After twenty-four hours of absolute silence, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson have “unfrozen” the 1D brand, which has been on hold since 2016, and wrote an eight-handed statement:

We are completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing. When the time is ripe, and we are all capable of doing so, there will be more to say. For now, we need time to grieve the loss of our brother, whom we loved. The memories we shared with him will be cherished forever. Now we send thoughts to his family, friends and fans who loved him with us. We will miss him terribly. We love you, Liam. Louis, Zayn, Niall and Harry.

1D’s joint post was then followed by a post published by Louis Tomlinson alone:

I am beyond devastated to write this but yesterday I lost a brother. Liam was someone I admired every day, such a positive, funny and kind soul. I first met Liam when he was 16 and I was 18, I was immediately amazed by his voice, but more importantly as time passed I got to see the kind brother I had wanted all my life. Liam was an incredible songwriter with a great sense of melody, we often talked about getting back into the studio together to try and recreate the writing chemistry we had built in the band. And for the record, Liam was in my opinion the most vital part of One Direction. His experience since childhood, his perfect pitch, his stage presence, his gift for writing. The list goes on. Thanks for shaping us Liam. A message for you Liam if you’re listening: I feel beyond lucky to have had you in my life. I’m so grateful that we got even closer, talking on the phone for hours, remembering all the thousand beautiful memories we had together is a luxury I thought I’d have with you for a lifetime. I would have liked to share the stage with you again but it wasn’t like that. I want you to know that if Bear needs me, I will be the uncle he needs in his life and tell him stories about how amazing his dad was. I wish I had the chance to say goodbye and tell you one more time how much I loved you. Payno my boy one of my best friends my brother I love you friend. Rest in peace.