Louis Tomlinson, rest of 1D honour Liam Payne: ‘Lost a brother’

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Louis Tomlinson has paid tribute to his One Direction bandmate Liam Payne, who died Wednesday at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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“I am beyond devastated to be writing this but yesterday I lost a brother,” Tomlinson wrote in an Instagram message alongside a picture of the two of them onstage together. “Liam was somebody I looked up to everyday, such a positive, funny, and kind soul. I first met Liam when he was 16 and I was 18, I was instantly amazed by his voice but more importantly as time went on I got a chance to see the kind brother I’d longed all my life for. Liam was an incredible songwriter with a great sense of melody, we often spoke of getting back in the studio together to try and recreate the writing chemistry we had built up in the band. And for the record, Liam was in my opinion the most vital part of One Direction. His experience from a young age, his perfect pitch, his stage presence, his gift for writing. The list goes on. Thank you for shaping us Liam.”

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Tomlinson continued his tribute by addressing Payne directly, writing, “A message to you Liam if you’re listening, I feel beyond lucky to have had you in my life but I’m really struggling with the idea of saying goodbye. 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.”

Tomlinson added that he “would have loved to share the stage with you again but it wasn’t to be.”

“I want you to know that if (Payne’s seven-year-old son) Bear ever needs me I will be the Uncle he needs in his life and tell him stories of how amazing his dad was. I wish I got chance to say goodbye and tell you one more time how much I loved you.”

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Tomlinson ended his message by calling Payne “one of my best friends” and a “brother.”

“I love you mate,” he wrote. “Sleep well.”

Payne’s family said they were “heartbroken” in a statement shared through his representative.

“We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul,” his family said. “We are supporting each other the best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space at this awful time.”

In a joint statement, Payne’s One Direction bandmates — Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Tomlinson — said they were “completely devastated.”

“The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever,” the band said in a statement signed by all four members. “We will miss him terribly.”

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The band didn’t address the circumstances surrounding Payne’s death, simply adding, “In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say.”

Malik shared his own statement to his Instagram, writing: “Liam, I have found myself talking out loud to you, hoping you can hear me, I can’t help but think selfishly that there was so many more conversations for us to have in our lives. I never got to thank you for supporting me through some of the most difficult times in my life.”

Newly released audio detailed a frantic scene in the moments leading up to Payne’s deadly plunge from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina, a country he had been visiting for the past few weeks with his girlfriend, social media influencer Kate Cassidy, who had returned to the U.S. just two days before his death.

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The UK Sun, The Associated Press and Argentinian outlet La Nacion translated an emergency call made by the manager of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires in which the person could be heard saying a guest was “overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol” and “putting his life at risk.”

“We have a guest who is (allegedly) high and drunk; and when he is conscious, he is destroying his room and we need you to send someone, please. We need you to send someone urgently because I don’t know if his life is in danger,” the hotel manager said.

“They must be in a room that has a balcony. And well, we’re a little bit worried he’ll do something, that he’ll put his life at risk,” he said.

Despite looking fine in a series of videos shared to his Snapchat on Wednesday, several witnesses told TMZ that in the leadup to the call the father of one had been “acting erratic” in the hotel lobby earlier in the afternoon.

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Payne reportedly “smashed his laptop, and had to be carried back to his room.”  

By the time medical personnel arrived, Payne’s body was on the ground outside the hotel with La Nacion reporting that “a bottle of whiskey, a lighter and a cellphone” were also found at the scene.

Pablo Policicchio, the communications director for the Buenos Aires Security Ministry, said in a statement to The Associated Press that Payne “had jumped from the balcony of his room.” 

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Unverified photos taken of his alleged hotel room showed a chaotic scene with a smashed television and discarded foil and a white powder, which police will test to see if it is cocaine, La Nacion reported.

Statements from the Buenos Aires police echoed the images that appeared on X as they told the Associated Press that they found Payne’s room “in complete disarray” with broken objects and furniture. They found packs of clonazepam, a central nervous system depressant, energy supplements and over-the-counter medications strewn about his belongings. The Argentine public prosecutor said there also appeared to be alcohol and narcotics in the room.

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According to the AP, an autopsy showed internal bleeding and 25 traumatic injuries to his skull, limbs and abdomen, consistent with a fall. It said those injuries alone were enough to cause his death.

“Based on what the team saw, there was apparently a cranial fracture and extremely serious injuries that led to his immediate death,” one medic said, according to La Nacion (per the New York Post).

As police aim to pull together a timeline of Payne’s final hours, they interviewed two women who were with the singer earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, a source told PEOPLE that Payne “was extremely overwhelmed by all of the legal issues … related to his ex-fiancee, Maya Henry.” 

According to the Daily Mail, Payne was hit with a cease-and-desist order last week after he repeatedly tried to contact Henry.

— With files from the Associated Press

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