Fans mourn Liam Payne’s death at UK vigils, while ex-partner Cheryl calls media coverage ‘abhorrent’

LONDON – Fans mourning Liam Payne’s death turned out across Britain and beyond at organised vigils on Oct 20, with at least 1,000 gathering in central London to pay tribute to the former One Direction star.

These came four days after Payne died aged 31, following a fall from the balcony of his Buenos Aires hotel room, prompting an outpouring of grief and condolences from family, former bandmates, fans and others.

Investigators have said he appeared to have been “going through an episode of substance abuse”.

Those at the London memorial at the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park were encouraged in social media posts to bring “flowers, letters, balloons, pictures” and they did not disappoint.

Gathering in the rain under umbrellas bearing those things and more, the crowd of mainly young people sang One Direction songs after also standing in silence for periods.

“He was such a big part of our childhood – we just came to pay our respects,” said student Katie Etchells, 20, wearing a One Direction T-shirt.

She was one of many who said that they at first thought word of his death was “fake news”, calling the realisation it was true “very upsetting”.

“I think he’ll be happy to know that so many people do love him,” said a tearful Luna Franco, 20, from Italy.

Musician Shukhrat Turdikhodjaev, 21, had gone from disbelief to shock on hearing Payne had died. He said the turnout showed that the singer “was able to connect and unify so many different people”.

Elsewhere, news reports and social media posts showed that hundreds of people also gathered in Scottish cities Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as Paris, New York, Stockholm and many other places.

Fans were also set to gather later on Oct 20 in Birmingham in central England – near Wolverhampton, where Payne was born and raised.

He would shoot to fame around the world as a teenager in the hugely successful pop group One Direction, which formed in 2010 after their members appeared on reality show The X Factor (2004 to 2018).

Oct 20’s meet-ups mirror gatherings seen across Latin America in recent days.

In Buenos Aires, tearful fans have continued to gather in front of the CasaSur Hotel, where Payne plunged to his death and an altar dedicated to him has been created, full of flowers and messages.

On Oct 18, his father Geoff Payne visited the scene, thanking fans gathered there in a shared moment of grief.

Meanwhile, Mexico City, the Ecuadorian capital Quito and various towns and cities in Colombia are among the other places to have seen impromptu ceremonies for Payne.

Anguished reactions have continued to stream in, including from Girls Aloud star Cheryl, Payne’s former partner and the mother of their seven-year-old son Bear, who called his death an “earth-shattering event”.

In an Instagram post made on Oct 18, which marked her first statement since the tragedy, the 41-year-old criticised the “abhorrent” media coverage surrounding Payne’s death. American tabloid TMZ published – then later deleted – a photo purporting to be of Payne’s body after his fall.

She wrote: “I’d like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being. Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our seven-year-old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again.

“What is troubling my spirit the most is that one day Bear will have access to the abhorrent reports and media exploitation we have seen in the past two days. It is breaking my heart further that I cannot protect him from that in his future.”

The post was accompanied with a photo of Payne and Bear as a baby.

Payne’s girlfriend, social media influencer Kate Cassidy, also broke her silence on Oct 18 in an Instagram Story.

She wrote: “Liam, my angel. You are everything. I want you to know I loved you unconditionally and completely. I will continue to love you for the rest of my life.”

One Direction member Zayn Malik said Oct 19 on X that he was postponing the current US leg of his tour until January, citing “the heartbreaking loss experienced this week”.

Payne died from multiple traumas and internal and external haemorrhaging after the fall from the hotel, an autopsy found. It suggested he had not tried to stop his fall and was in a state of “semi- or total unconsciousness” before his death.

The singer, who had spoken publicly about struggles with alcohol and coping with fame from an early age, was alone at the time and appeared to be “going through an episode of substance abuse”, prosecutors have said.

Back in London, fan Chelsea Willy, 20, summed up the feelings of those mourning the loss. “It is just really sad,” the actress said. “I’ve been a fan of him since I was very little,” she added, noting she cried on learning the news. AFP