‘It’s like I’ve lost someone from my family’ – Liam Payne fans gather for vigils
Liam Payne fans have gathered at vigils around the world – from Birmingham to Manila – to grieve, sing, and cry in memory of the former One Direction star who died on Wednesday.
Police estimated that between 800 and 1,000 people gathered in London’s Hyde Park on Sunday to remember the 31-year-old who died after falling from the third floor of a hotel balcony in Argentina.
The crowd sang One Direction songs, such as the chart-topping hit What Makes You Beautiful, with many fans in tears.
Groups of fans have also come together in Glasgow, Paris, Sydney, and elsewhere.
It is not yet known when his body will be repatriated to the UK.
Payne rose to global fame as part of the boyband One Direction – created on The X Factor TV show in 2010 – and sang together with bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan.
Fans showed up in London’s Hyde Park, braving the drizzly weather on Sunday afternoon, and brought with them letters, pictures and flowers.
Many were placing them at the Peter Pan statue where the memorial was being held.
Organiser Alicia Sinclair, 22, from Hertfordshire, said One Direction was “a light in a lot of people’s lives, especially mine”.
“There are a lot of people upset and it’s a good time for us to come together and be with people who understand,” she told BBC 5 Live.
“My favourite memories with my sister are almost entirely revolving around One Direction,” she added.
“So for me it feels like, I guess like the end of us growing up together. That’s what makes it so hard.”
In London, fans Emily and Olivia first fell in love with Payne and One Direction when they were at school.
“Growing up, it’s hard to put it in words, but being a Directioner became such an important community for me,” said Emily, 25.
“Being young at the time, it was my first feeling of being in love, my first feeling of crushing on a boy, of being excited about boys,” added Olivia, who is 23. “I kissed the posters every night. We all did.”
“It felt like you were part of the best club in the world and it’s a huge part of why we bonded together.”
She added that part of the reason why Payne’s death has hit so hard, is because she “always hoped for a One Direction reunion one day”.
“We took it for granted,” she said.
Arriving with flowers in their hands and some people with tears in their eyes, hundreds of fans of One Direction and Payne arrived in Chamberlain Square in the centre of Birmingham.
Some fans paying tribute to the singer were upset while others were dancing and singing One Direction songs and sharing their memories of Liam Payne and the band.
Jamie Parker, 27, was one of many leaving flowers and a handwritten note in tribute.
Parker said his mother died from cancer in 2013 and that he and his sister “relied on the One Direction albums to help us process our grief and navigate our feelings”.
He added: “When I woke up to the news that he’d died, I was just in utter disbelief.”
Elizabeth Turay went to the vigil in Birmingham with her two sisters, telling the BBC they used to listened to Payne’s songs together from his solo music career as well as music from One Direction.
“We all shared the same experiences as sisters, it’s just been a massive part of our childhoods,” the 19-year-old said.
Sophie Peach said Payne was “my whole entire childhood”, adding that he “got me through a lot as a child”.
The 18-year-old said her happiest memories of the singer was watching him on MTV, seeing him in the charts, and “dancing with my sister around the living room singing all the One Direction”.
In Glasgow, people gathered to pay tribute at a vigil despite the organisers’ plan to postpone due to weather concerns.
People of all ages laid flowers, lit candles and sang One Direction and Payne’s songs at the memorial in George Square.
A one minute silence was held, and some fans cried as they hugged their friends and remembered Payne.
In Paris, a crowd gathered and flowers and candles were laid at the Tuileries Gardens beneath a framed photo of the singer on Sunday afternoon.
One fan at the vigil, Alexandra Veloso Silva, 31, told the Reuters news agency it felt like she had “lost someone from my family”.
Another fan Roman, 23, said Payne’s death feels like “another subject that brings us relief has been taken from us”.
Earlier this weekend, people came together in Liverpool and his home town of Wolverhampton outside St Peter’s Church.
In Buenos Aires, people gathered earlier this week outside the hotel where Payne was found dead. His father, Geoff Payne, viewed tributes for his son on Friday outside the Casa Sur hotel in the city.
Additional reporting by Linda Sinclair in Glasgow and Hollie Cole in London.
