Outside St Peter’s church in Wolverhampton, people gathered on Sunday to look at the balloons, bouquets and candles left in tribute to the One Direction star Liam Payne, whose home town was part of a worldwide outpouring of grief arranged by fans over the weekend.
Fans came together in Munich, Paris, Glasgow, Madrid, Sydney and New York – as well as in the Philippines and Colombia – to pay their respects after directioners, the name given to supporters of the X Factor-formed band, organised the vigils on social media.
In London’s Hyde Park, hundreds of fans released balloons beside the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens. “It’s more comforting being with other people, because these people get it, whereas back at home, you’re just kind of on your own,” said fan Lauren.
“It’s quite tough, you’re stuck in your own thoughts, and here you can talk about it.”
Payne died on Wednesday after falling from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires.
Shortly after the news broke, hundreds of fans gathered in the Palermo area of the Argentinian capital, while others turned up at the Casa Sur hotel where Payne died, with the Guardian reporting that a “quiet disbelief hung over the street”.
Those scenes were replicated on Sunday around the globe as Payne and One Direction fans gathered en masse to remember the pop star, who was 31.
Mourning fans in Munich left flowers, handwritten messages and photographs of the star in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium, while in Paris a makeshift shrine was constructed in the Tuileries Garden – the public gardens next to the Louvre and the River Seine. Others sang the group’s biggest hits, including What Makes You Beautiful, in unison.
The gatherings happened on the same day that Britain’s Got Talent auditions restarted in Blackpool after they were rescheduled following Payne’s death.
One Direction, which consisted of Payne, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, did not win the X Factor in 2010 but went on to become one of the biggest boybands ever.
Malik announced on Saturday that he would postpone the US leg of his tour, posting on X that he was making the decision “given the heartbreaking loss experienced this week”.
“The dates are being rescheduled for January and I’ll post them as soon as it’s all set in the next few days,” he said. “Your tickets will remain valid for the new dates. Love you all and thank you for your understanding.”
One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, with Payne starting a solo career the following year. He had several hit singles, including Strip That Down, For You alongside Rita Ora and Get Low featuring Zedd.
Payne revealed he’d been in therapy for two years during a Guardian interview in 2019.
He said that at the height of One Direction’s fame he began using alcohol and an epilepsy drug as a mood stabiliser to counter the “erratic highs and lows” he was experiencing. “I just needed a little bit of help to keep me stable … it was very touch and go at times,” he said.
Last year, he said in an interview that he’d completed more than three months of sobriety. Payne became a father in 2017, having a son, Bear Grey Payne, with his then partner, the X Factor judge Cheryl Tweedy. The couple split in 2018 after two years together.
