Harry Styles has spoken out about Liam Payne’s death.
The “Watermelon Sugar” singer, 30, released a statement on Thursday after his former One Direction bandmate died Oct. 16 at age 31.
“I am truly devastated by Liam’s passing. His greatest joy was making other people happy, and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it,” he wrote via Instagram.
“Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious. He was warm, supportive, and incredibly loving. The years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life. I will miss him always, my lovely friend,” he continued.
Styles concluded his heartfelt message by mentioning Payne’s family and other loved ones.
He concluded: “My heart breaks for Karen, Geoff, Nicola and Ruth, his son Bear, and all those around the world who knew and loved him, as I did.”
Styles’ mom, Anne Twist, also paid tribute to Payne the night he died.
She shared a photo on Instagram of a broken heart and wrote, “Just a boy…”
Styles and Payne met when they appeared on “The X Factor UK” in 2010.
The two had originally auditioned solo, but the judges put Payne, Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson together to form One Direction.
The group came in third place on the show, but they quickly skyrocketed to become an international phenomenon and the best-selling boy band of all time.
After releasing five studio albums together, One Direction went on indefinite hiatus in 2016. Malik, 31, quit the group the year prior.
All five singers went on to pursue solo careers, with Styles easily having the most success. He’s put out three solo albums, gone on two sold-out worldwide tours and won three Grammys. Styles has also starred in several movies including “Dunkirk,” “Don’t Worry Darling” and “My Policeman.”
Payne, meanwhile, released his debut studio album, “LP1,” in 2019. He reportedly postponed his second album this year because he was “struggling” in the music industry before his death.
The “Strip That Down” singer developed alcohol and drug abuse during the peak of One Direction’s success.
Years later, Payne said that staying in the boy band “would’ve killed” him.
“You’re either going to end up a crazy child star who dies at whatever age, or you’re going to live life and actually get on with it,” he recalled on Jessie Ware’s podcast “Table Manners” in 2019, adding, “I remember getting to therapy and the guy was like ‘What do you like to do?’ I didn’t know.”
In 2021, Payne talked about Styles’ success on the “Diary of a CEO” podcast, saying, “We’ve all had our success in completely different areas, and also musically, we didn’t really go down the same route. I think Harry’s done amazing.”
“I mean, first album he had the one song off which is really really well and then [on] his second album, he found himself,” Payne added.
But the following year, Payne criticized his former One Direction bandmates on Logan Paul’s podcast. He said there were “many reasons” why he disliked Malik.
Payne later walked back his comments in a 2023 YouTube video after he went to rehab.
“My own frustrations with my own career and where I kind of landed, I took shots at everybody else which is wrong,” the “For You” singer said. “So obviously, I want to apologize for that because that’s definitely not me.”
Payne also congratulated Styles on his 2023 Grammy wins on social media.
Payne fell to his death from his third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Though officials had initally said after the crooner’s death that he had “jumped,” the autopsy report said he had fallen and Communications Director for the Buenos Aires Security Ministry Pablo Policicchio told Page Six that investigators are still working to determine if it was an accident or intentional.
First responders had rushed to the CasaSur Palermo Hotel late Wednesday, Oct. 16 after receiving an emergency call from the frantic manager about a guest who was “putting his life at risk” while under the influence of “drugs and alcohol.”
Witnesses alleged that the British musician was acting “erratic” before his death. He allegedly smashed his laptop in the hotel lobby and was carried back to his room before the fall.
Payne fractured his skull and died instantly of “very serious injuries,” medical officials confirmed on Oct. 17.
The autopsy concluded his official cause of death was “polytrauma, internal and external hemorrhage,” but internal and external hemorrhages in the skull, thorax, abdomen and limbs “contributed to the mechanism of death,” according to the report.
Additionally, two women had been in his room in the hours before his death.
Payne had been in Argentina since earlier this month with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, 25. The late star went to Horan’s Buenos Aires concert on Oct. 2, and Cassidy left for Florida solo two days before his death.