The funeral of One Direction singer Liam Payne is taking place today, with his former bandmates among the mourners.
Payne died aged 31 on 16 October after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.
The funeral is being held at St Mary’s Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.
Along with Payne’s family, the mourners include his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, his One Direction bandmates Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson, music mogul Simon Cowell, presenters Adrian Chiles and James Corden, and former footballer Robbie Keane, who was a teammate of Payne’s for Soccer Aid in 2022.
Fans from across the globe have continued to hold vigils in memory of Payne following his death.
He died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage”, a post-mortem examination report said.
An investigation has been launched into his death by prosecutors, and three people have been charged in connection with the incident.
Payne rose to fame alongside Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan when Simon Cowell put them together to form One Direction on ITV talent show The X Factor in 2010.
He had first auditioned in 2008 when he was 14, singing Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me to the Moonwith judge Cowell telling him to return to the talent show two years later.
In 2010, he impressed the judges with a rendition of Michael Bublé’s Cry Me a River before being put with four other solo hopefuls at the boot camp stage of the competition – the group that later became One Direction.
Payne, who was born in Wolverhampton, went on to launch a successful solo career, releasing his debut solo album LP1 in December 2019, which included the songs Polaroid and Strip That Down featuring Quavo.
One of his most well-known songs, For Youwas a collaboration between him and singer Rita Ora for the film Fifty Shades Freed.
He and Girls Aloud singer Cheryl, who were in a relationship between 2016 and 2018, share a son, Bear.
Source: Press Association
