Relatives of Liam Payne and his former partners in the boy band One Direction on Wednesday paid their last respects to the singer, who died in October at the age of 31, during a private funeral in Amersham, near London.
Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson were among dozens of people to attend the midday ceremony at the medieval St Mary’s Church, decorated with flowers and candles.
The singer’s coffin arrived in a white carriage decorated with colorful flower wreaths forming the words “son” and “dad”. She was followed by the singer’s parents, his two sisters, his girlfriend, the American influencer Kate Cassidy.
His former partner Cheryl Tweedy, singer of the British group Girls Aloud with whom he had a son, Bear, aged 7, was also present.
Simon Cowell, the singer’s mentor on the show “The X Factor”, which revealed the boy band in 2010, as well as the host and comedian James Corden, also attended the funeral.
Last tribute
Some residents and fans, kept apart behind a cordon, had traveled to pay a final tribute to the One Direction singer, who lived nearby.
The death of Liam Payne, who fell from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 16, shocked the group’s fans around the world.
“His death has been so publicized to the public… it must be nice for them to have a little privacy,” resident Sheila Morris, 65, told AFP.
Fight against addiction
After the announcement of his death, tributes took place in several cities around the world, notably in London on October 20. Thousands of people sang along to the songs of the former boy band, which enjoyed dazzling success from 2010 to 2016.
Argentine prosecutors have revealed that Liam Payne had consumed alcohol, cocaine and antidepressants before his death. Three people were charged with supplying him with drugs.
He died of “multiple trauma” and “internal and external bleeding”.
In a 2023 video posted on his YouTube account, Liam Payne said he was admitted to a rehab center for his alcoholism: “I kind of became someone I didn’t really recognize anymore. And I’m sure you don’t recognize him either,” he said then.
One Direction, who was one of the most lucrative boy bands in the world, released their fifth and final studio album, “Made in the AM” in 2016. The same year, the group announced a break, never formalized as a separation.
The members of the boy band then began solo careers with varying degrees of success.
Liam Payne released his first album, “LP1”, in 2019. Last year he announced that he was working on a second album and released a new single in March 2024.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / afp
